Ahead of ICJ ruling, Israel attacks Rafah
- The Israeli army intensify its assault on Rafah as the International Court of Justice says it will rule on Friday on a request by South Africa to order Israel to implement a ceasefire in Gaza, including in the southern city.
- Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians in two-day raid on Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel must investigate reports of torture of Palestinian detainees: UN expert
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, has called on Israel to investigate multiple allegations of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees since October 7.
Edwards said in a statement that she had received allegations of people being beaten up, kept blindfolded in cells and handcuffed for long periods.
She also received reports of some detainees being deprived of sleep, threatened with physical and sexual violence, insulted and exposed to humiliating acts, including “being photographed and filmed in degrading poses”.
“I am particularly concerned that this emerging pattern of violations, coupled with an absence of accountability and transparency, is creating a permissive environment for further abusive and humiliating treatment of Palestinians,” Edwards said.
“Those responsible at all levels, including commanders, must be held accountable, while victims have a right to reparation and compensation.”
Palestinians in Gaza replace cars with donkey carts amid shortages
Palestinians in Gaza are increasingly relying on donkey carts for transportation due to severe shortages of fuel, food, water and medical supplies caused by the ongoing conflict.
Vehicles are scarce and expensive to operate, forcing people to use alternative means to transport goods, relocate after displacement, and even take the injured to hospitals.
Israel vows to continue war ahead of ICJ ruling
Israel’s government says nothing will stop it from continuing its war on Gaza ahead of an ICJ ruling expected on Friday.
“No power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza,” government spokesman Avi Hyman told reporters when asked whether Israel would comply with a possible ICJ ruling against it.
Earlier, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that senior Israeli officials are growing concerned about the verdict. Last week, the ICJ heard arguments from South Africa calling for the body to order an end to Israel’s operations in Rafah.
The officials fear a stern ruling from the ICJ could open Israel up to international sanctions, according to Haaretz.
Maggot infestations and wounds that never heal for Gaza’s malnourished
Dr Mohammed Harara, 28, had barely begun working as a general practitioner when he was thrust to the front lines of a warzone, forced to become a jack-of-all-trades.
In the nearly eight months since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza, Harara has seen more than he thought he ever would.
Like the maggot-infested wounds of the maimed that he has had to stand by and helplessly look at.
Lacking medication and even basic hygiene materials, Harara and his colleagues are not able to clean – or keep clean – festering wounds.
Also complicating their struggles are the patients’ severely compromised physical conditions, which are slow to heal and can make such an infestation lethal.
Thirty Israeli soldiers wounded over past 2 days: Report
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing Israeli military data, is reporting that eight of the soldiers were seriously wounded in combat.
According to the reported data, 22 of the soldiers were wounded in the Gaza Strip and the rest elsewhere.
All EU donors have resumed UNRWA funding: Borrell
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has lauded an initiative by the Slovenian Permanent Mission to the UN to support UNRWA‘s vital role in providing assistance to generations of Palestinian refugees.
In a post on X, he also stated that all EU donors have now resumed funding of the UN agency.
Amid fuel shortages, Gaza residents relying more on donkey carts for transportation
With fuel shortages driving up the cost of transportation, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are increasingly struggling to get around – even for critical trips to the hospital.
“One litre of diesel now costs $16,” Juda Safi, a displaced Palestinian who uses his pick-up truck to make a living, told Al Jazeera. “It’s utter injustice. If I charge a passenger $1 to $3, we end up fighting, but it’s beyond my control. I hardly end up covering the cost of fuel or earning something to feed my family.”
For those who cannot afford such fares, a donkey cart is the only alternative, say residents, who are increasingly using them to carry goods or travel.
Israel claims Lebanon drone strike that killed Hezbollah member
Israel’s military has published a video of a drone strike it says it carried out near Lebanon’s southern city of Nabatieh that killed a Hezbollah member.
It claimed the group’s member, Muhammad Nasser, played a significant role in developing specialised weapons.
Earlier, as we reported, Hezbollah confirmed that Nasser was killed in an Israeli attack in the Nabatieh area.
Fighting, bombardment continues in Beit Hanoon
One of the key developments on the ground is a new Israeli military incursion in Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza.
This city was turned into rubble in the early phase of the war. But now the Israeli military is there again, fighting against remaining Hamas battalions.
The city has come under bombardment that has destroyed more neighbourhoods.
At the same time, more attacks have been carried out in Rafah in the far south of the territory. A group of Palestinians was hit by a drone missile in Rafah’s central market, causing a number of casualties.
Al-Awda Hospital doctor pleas for trapped patients, staff
A doctor forced out of northern Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital, which is currently besieged by Israeli forces, has given Al Jazeera an update on the situation inside the facility, where 14 patients and several staff remain.
“Today, the Israeli military forced nearly all of us from the hospital,” Dr Marwan Fwaihi told Al Jazeera. “The patients remained inside, with four medical staff and two paramedics to care for them.
“All of us have been ordered to leave the hospital and keep walking towards west [Gaza City]. We are walking until we reach a safe area and to find shelter.”
Fwaihi emphasised that he has repeatedly called on international organisations to help protect the patients and staff trapped in the besieged facility, but has so far seen no progress.
“I appeal to all international organisations and all medical-related officials, especially the [World Health Organization], to intervene to protect what remains of the hospitals, the patients in the hospital, and the medical staff who refuse to leave,” he said.
Israel says 30 rockets launched from Lebanon
The Israeli military says most of the rockets were intercepted, and others fell in open areas in northern Israel with no casualties reported.
It said fighter jets attacked the launcher with which the rockets were fired.
Cross-border attacks between Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Israeli military have been ongoing since October 8, when the Lebanese armed group launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
UK complaint alleges politicians’ complicity in Israeli ‘war crimes’
A new criminal complaint has been submitted to the Metropolitan Police alleging potential British government officials’ complicity in aiding and abetting the intentional starvation of Palestinians.
It supplements an existing complaint issued in January by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), arguing that UK politicians are criminally liable for their involvement in alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The new complaint, submitted by the ICJP on May 17, names 22 individuals, including five senior UK government ministers.
Hungary says ICC warrant against Netanyahu ‘unacceptable’
Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban’s chief of staff says the ICC prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu is “unacceptable” and could not be enforced in Hungary.
Gergely Gulyas told a news briefing that although Hungary, a staunch ally of Israel, ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC, it “was never made part of Hungarian law”, meaning that no measure of the court can be carried out within Hungary.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday he had requested arrest warrants for Israel’s PM, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.
“This decision … is not a legal but a political decision, it is unacceptable and it discredits the International Criminal Court,” Gulyas said.
All 27 European Union countries are ICC members, and EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell noted that they “are bound to execute the court’s decisions”.
Eighteen arrested in new occupied West Bank raids
Israeli forces have arrested 18 people across the occupied West Bank since last night, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, bringing the total number of arrests since October 7 to 8,840.
Most of the latest arrests took place in Bethlehem governorate, while others were in Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and Jericho governorates.
Israel ‘furious’ as more European states recognise Palestine
As we’ve been reporting, Israeli officials have reacted with indignation at yesterday’s announcement by Ireland, Spain and Norway that they will formally recognise Palestinian statehood.
Israel’s PM Netanyahu said the moves serve as a “reward to terror” and will not bring Israel any peace.
Al Jazeera’s Sara Khairat, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said the Israeli government’s reaction shows how “furious” it is at the growing international backlash to its expanding occupation of the West Bank, which Norway cited as a reason for its recognition of Palestine.
“This gives you a sense of how angry Israel is about all of this”, said Khairat. “All of this is happening as the occupation of West Bank and the war in Gaza continue. And as the families of those that have been abducted and taken captive in Gaza continue their protest against the Israeli government.”
Israeli attacks on hospitals part of ‘campaign to eradicate Palestinian society’
Dr Mads Gilbert, an emergency physician, spoke to Al Jazeera about the continued attacks on medical facilities by Israeli forces in Gaza following the ongoing sieges on al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals.
He said there is no proof to back up the claims made by the Israeli military that the hospitals are used by Palestinian fighters.
“My experience from more than 20 years in Gaza is that the Palestinians don’t use civilian structures as what [Israel are] claiming, as some sort of hideouts for the armed resistance,” he said.
The Israeli attacks on hospitals, mosques, education facilities and bakeries are part of a “campaign to eradicate the Palestinian society and any sign of Palestinian structures in the civilian life”, he said.
“This is the politics of eradicating the Indigenous people to take their lands.”
He appealed to the governments of Spain, Ireland and Norway, who stated they would recognise an independent Palestinian state on Wednesday, to “step up the political pressure and practical sanctions against Israel” to halt the healthcare crisis in Gaza.
Palestinian killed in attack on central Gaza farmland
Rescuers have recovered the body of a Palestinian killed by an Israeli air attack in az-Zawayda area of central Gaza.
Footage posted by the Palestine Red Crescent Society shows medics covering the body of the victim, lying in an agricultural area, in a white shroud and transporting it to a hospital.
Israeli attacks since October 7 have regularly targeted Gaza’s farmland, decimating around half of the enclave’s tree crops even as the population faces a severe food shortage, according to satellite analysis by Kent State University’s He Yin.
