Dozens of Israeli protesters attack truck in bid to block Gaza aid

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 said Friday.

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 injuring two officers and a soldier. According to Israeli media, the truck was carrying ordinary commercial goods, not aid for Gaza.

On Friday, 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 as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered 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.

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.