Israel's prime minister says a former U.N. Mideast envoy, Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, has been chosen to serve as the director-general for U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace aimed at overseeing the peace process in Gaza. The appointment marks an important step forward for Trump's Mideast peace plan, which has moved slowly since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement Thursday after meeting Mladenov in Jerusalem. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the appointment has not been officially announced, confirmed the selection.

Israel has launched its offensive in Gaza City, vowing to overwhelm a city already in ruins from nearly two years of war. Vehicles strapped with mattresses and other belongings clogged a coastal road as thousands of Palestinians fled Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands more remain. The operation into the largest Palestinian city further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach. The military wouldn't offer a timeline for the offensive, but Israeli media suggested it could take months. It says it aims to "destroy Hamas' military infrastructure."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for Israel to be banned from sports events. He made the statement on Monday after pro-Palestinian activists disrupted the final stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race in Madrid. Sánchez compared Israel to Russia, which has been boycotted from international sports events due to its invasion of Ukraine. He questioned the ethics of allowing Israel to participate in international competitions while its military campaign in Gaza continues. The disruption on Sunday involved protesters throwing barriers onto the road and clashing with police near the finish line.

Truck drivers delivering aid in Gaza say their work has become increasingly dangerous. Since Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March, the situation has worsened. Hungry crowds often rip aid from moving trucks and armed gangs hijack them to sell the aid at high prices. Drivers have been killed in the chaos. Israel has made recent moves to allow more aid into Gaza. But drivers say it's still not enough and the situation remains extremely dangerous. Some drivers have quit due to the risks. The U.N. says flooding Gaza with aid could ease the desperation and improve drivers' safety.

Israeli airstrikes and shootings have killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza, including 45 who were attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid. That's according to hospitals and the Gaza Health Ministry. Families wept Thursday over the bodies from a strike that hit a tent camp during the night as displaced people slept in southern Gaza. At least 13 members of a single family were killed, including at least six children under 12. In central Gaza, a boy stroked the face of his dead 6-year-old sister in a morgue at Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital. The girl and another of her brothers were among eight people killed when a strike Wednesday evening hit near a stand selling falafel.

Palestinian witnesses and hospitals say Israeli forces and drones have opened fire toward hundreds of people waiting for aid in southern and central Gaza, killing at least 44 people. Gaza's health authorities said Tuesday the number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen above 56,000. They say the dead include 5,759 who have been killed since Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18. The new food-distribution sites run by an American contractor, with U.S. and Israeli government support, have been plagued by scenes of violence and chaos since opening last month.

The European Union says there are "indications" that Israel's actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in the agreement governing its ties with the EU, according to its findings seen by The Associated Press. The EU foreign policy chief presented the review to foreign minsters of the 27-member bloc in Brussels on Monday. At least one country openly proposes suspending the deal. Suspending ties would require a unanimous decision. That is likely impossible to obtain from countries like Austria, Germany and Hungary that tend to back Israel.

Gaza's Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early Thursday. Hours earlier, an Israeli- and U.S.-supported aid group said Hamas attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least five of them. The militia said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing humanitarian workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identity of those killed. The Israeli military circulated the aid group's statement on social media but did not provide its own account of what happened.