World roundup: February 27 2026

Stories from Iran, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

February 27, 1844: A group of leading Dominicans called La Trinitaria declares independence from Haiti. Thus began the 12 year Dominican War of Independence, after which the Dominican Republic was established as an independent nation. Commemorated today as Independence Day in the Dominican Republic.

February 27, 1933: The Reichstag building in Berlin is set on fire one month after Adolf Hitler had become chancellor. Hitler and the Nazis pinned the arson on a communist named Marinus van der Lübbe, either alone or in collaboration with other communists. As far as I know, most historians nowadays believe that van der Lübbe set the fire alone, and that the Nazis manufactured the collaborator scenario to justify an already planned crackdown on communists that allowed them to tighten their grip on power.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The Israeli military (IDF) killed at least seven people in Gaza on Friday, according to civil defense officials. The IDF claims that its forces observed militants exiting a tunnel in southern Gaza the previous day and were retaliating for what they classify as a ceasefire “violation.”

Elsewhere, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction on Friday barring the country’s government from proscribing humanitarian aid groups that refuse to provide personal information on their Palestinian employees. Israeli officials imposed this requirement back in December and several organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, have refused to comply for fear that Israeli forces will use the information to target those employees. This is only an interim ruling and it’s not clear how the organizations will respond.