Ahead of ICJ ruling, Israel attacks Rafah

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Dozens of Palestinians were killed in predawn air attacks on Gaza City. The deadliest strike killed 16 people, including 10 children, in the city’s Daraj neighbourhood, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence.
• A separate Israeli attack on a house in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp killed eight more people.
• Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin after a two-day raid that killed 12 Palestinians, including four children.
• Fourteen patients are trapped in northern Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital, which is currently besieged by Israeli forces. Several doctors have promised to stay with the patients until they can be safely evacuated, reports Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum.
• An Israeli drone strike killed a Hezbollah member in his car while travelling in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.
• The ICJ plans to rule on South Africa’s request to order a halt to Israel’s offensive on Rafah tomorrow afternoon.
  

  Hezbollah says it targeted an Israeli brigade with dozens of missiles

  Hezbollah said its fighters fired dozens of rockets fighters at the Beit Hillel base in northern Israel.

  We just reported the Israeli military saying that 30 rockets were fired across the border from Lebanon.

  Earlier, Hezbollah announced that one of its members, Muhammad Nasser, was killed in an Israeli drone attack. Israeli forces struck a vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Dajjal, near Nabatieh, where Nasser was from.

  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.