U.S. military installs aid pier near Rafah

American military personnel anchored a temporary pier to a beach in Gaza on Thursday for the delivery of humanitarian aid to people in the war-torn area. The structure is set to receive aid shipments brought over from Cyprus. Trucks carrying aid are expected to move ashore in the coming days, United States Central Command said in a statement. No U.S. troops entered Gaza while building the pier, CENTCOM added.

Where is Israel fighting now? The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday seemed to have focused some of its attention on the northern city of Jabaliya, where Hamas was believed to have regrouped. Five soldiers were killed and seven others were injured on Wednesday during a friendly fire incident in Jabaliya, according to the IDF. Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari released the names of the five men Thursday morning.

Other updates in Israel:

• The United Nations International Court of Justice will hold a hearing on Thursday at the request of South Africa to discuss more measures sought against Israel under the genocide convention. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on social media to the legal proceedings. Nobody will prevent Israel from realizing its basic right to self-defense – not the UN General Assembly or any other body, he said.

• Hezbollah forces in Lebanon launched 40 missiles into Israel, several of which were successfully intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array, according to an IDF statement. Israeli jets returned fire and hit a military post from which some rockets were fired, along with another Hezbollah military structure.

• The IDF released aerial footage from inside a UN aid compound in eastern Rafah, which it said showed terrorists inside the compound accompanied by UN aid vehicles. An IDF unit that coordinates with civilian groups shared the footage with international leaders and called on the UN to conduct an urgent investigation, the IDF wrote.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on the UN explaining the lowered fatality numbers for women and children dead in Gaza.