The Latest | U.S.-built pier begins carrying aid to Gaza

Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. floating pier into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hinder food and other supplies reaching people there

Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. floating pier into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hinder food and other supplies reaching people there.

The shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day entering the Gaza Strip as Israel presses in on the southern city of Rafah and its 7-month offensive against Hamas rages on. No food has entered the two main border crossings in southern Gaza for more than a week. Some 1.1 million Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, according to the U.N.

In the occupied West Bank, dozens of Israeli protesters attacked a truck Thursday in an apparent attempt to prevent aid from reaching Gaza, beating its driver and setting it on fire. The Israeli military says soldiers arrived at the scene late in the day and tried to separate the attackers from the driver and provide medical treatment. It says the protesters then attacked the soldiers, lightly wounding two officers and a soldier.

According to Israeli media, the truck was carrying ordinary commercial goods, not aid for Gaza.

Israel will respond to charges of genocide at the U.N.‘s top court, where South Africa is seeking emergency measures to halt Israel’s escalating offensive in Rafah, calling the incursion “the last step in the destruction of Gaza.” Israel has portrayed Rafah as Hamas’ last stronghold, brushing off warnings from the United States and other allies that any major operation there would be catastrophic for civilians.

Israel's defense minister said the military would send more troops into Rafah, a city along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, as fighting also rages in northern Gaza, where Hamas has regrouped.

Around 600,000 Palestinians have been driven out of Rafah since the beginning of last week, the U.N. said. Some 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians have fled their homes since the start of the war, with many relocating multiple times.

Seven months of war have killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to local health officials.

The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people there, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostage. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Currently:

— U.S. military says first aid shipment has been driven across a newly built pier into the Gaza Strip

— Israel will respond to genocide charges at U.N. court after South Africa urgently requests cease-fire

— Hezbollah introduces new weapons and tactics against Israel as war in Gaza drags on

— A Palestinian converted to Judaism. An Israeli soldier saw him as a threat and opened fire

— For the children of Gaza, war means no school — and no indication when formal learning might return

— FIFA to seek legal advice on a Palestinian proposal to suspend Israel from international soccer

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

ISRAELI PROTESTERS ATTACK TRUCK IN WEST BANK IN APPARENT ATTEMPT TO STOP AID TO GAZA

Dozens of Israeli protesters attacked a truck in the occupied West Bank, beating its driver and setting it on fire in an apparent attempt to prevent aid from reaching Gaza.

The Israeli military says soldiers arrived at the scene late Thursday and tried to separate the attackers from the driver and provide medical treatment. It says the protesters then attacked the soldiers, lightly wounding two officers and a soldier.

It did not say whether there were any arrests.

Israeli media reported a similar event on Wednesday, saying protesters had halted a truck, emptied its contents into the road and beaten the Palestinian driver.

In both cases, the vehicles targeted were ordinary commercial trucks, not aid trucks bound for Gaza, according to the media reports.

Israeli police, who are primarily responsible for law and order in Israel’s West Bank settlements, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this week, dozens of protesters halted an aid convoy bound for Gaza. They pulled crates of food and other aid off the trucks and destroyed them.

The protesters are opposed to sending aid into Gaza, saying it strengthens Hamas and reduces the pressure on the militants to release scores of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war.

U.N. officials say severe hunger is widespread in Gaza and that northern Gaza is experiencing famine.