Israel-Gaza war live: UN report condemns Israeli treatment of Palestinians in occupied West Bank | Israel-Gaza war

A UN report published on Thursday deplored what it said was a “rapid deterioration” of human rights in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and urged Israeli authorities to end violence against the Palestinian population there.

The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) said it had recorded mass arbitrary detentions, unlawful detentions, and cases of reported torture and other forms of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees. It said about 4,785 Palestinians had been detained in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.

“Some were stripped naked, blindfolded and restrained for long hours with handcuffs and with their legs tied, while Israeli soldiers stepped on their heads and backs, were spat at, slammed against walls, threatened, insulted, humiliated and in some cases subjected to sexual and gender-based violence,” OHCHR said.

The report, published by the Office of the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR), said 300 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since 7 October. Most of the killings occurred during operations by Israeli security forces.

“The use of military tactics means and weapons in law enforcement contexts, the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force, and the enforcement of broad, arbitrary and discriminatory movement restrictions that affect Palestinians are extremely troubling,” OHCHR chief, Volker Türk, said.

“I call on Israel to take immediate, clear and effective steps to put an end to settler violence against the Palestinian population, to investigate all incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli Security Forces, to ensure effective protection of Palestinian communities,” he added.

Reuters said there was no immediate comment from Israeli officials on the report.

Israeli security forces claimed to have confiscated “tens of millions of shekels, safes, documents, recording systems and telephones” that it said were intended to “finance Hamas terrorism” during overnight raids in the West Bank.

In Russia, Tass is reporting that the foreign ministry has said “a small number of Russian citizens remain in the Gaza Strip” and that Russia is still working to free hostages.

It cites Yuri Gorlach, a crisis director at the ministry, saying:

According to information from our foreign missions, our citizens remain in the Gaza Strip. This is … a small number. Either permission from the relevant authorities was not received, or they voluntarily refused to leave because there was no permission for their relative. Our foreign missions are closely monitoring the situation, and whenever possible we are trying to provide assistance to them on an individual basis.

Of those who have left Gaza, Gorlach said “Currently, there are over 600 people, including about 300 children, in ten temporary accommodation centres in … the Russian Federation.”

The ministry said that in total 1,125 people have left Gaza and arrived in Russia on special flights. Russia claims it has assisted in evacuating citizens of Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Sweden, and Morocco from Gaza.

On the hostage situation, Gorlach said:

There is one more aspect on which we worked with our Israeli colleagues – the release of Russian hostages, citizens with Russian citizenship. There was also very intensive work here. We managed to rescue most of them, we expect that this work will continue, it is not very easy.

As you understand, the situation in the region is not simple. The safe withdrawal of our hostages is also a task that we must solve extremely carefully … And we are working closely with the authorities of both Israel and Qatar, which also provides assistance.

The Israeli ambassador to Russia, Alexander Ben Zvi, has said that Israel believes three Russian citizens are still being held captive by Hamas inside Gaza. On 7 October about 240 people were abducted from southern Israel and taken captive inside Gaza, of which just over 100 have been subsequently released.

One Palestinian has been killed and at least 15 injured in raids by the Israeli military targeting money exchange shops in cities in the West Bank, Al Jazeera is reporting.

The broadcaster’s correspondent, Imran Khan, who is in Ramallah, said 10 raids had taken place in cities including Ramallah, al-Bireh, Hebron, Halhul, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Jericho.

Israel has said the exchange shops are used by the Palestinian resistance movement to finance their activities, according to Khan, who added:

The raid here in Ramallah was unparalleled. I counted at least 20 vehicles entering the city around 1am (23.00 GMT Wednesday). Then there were fierce clashes that broke out in Al-Manara Square, which is in the centre of the city.

There was a controlled explosion around 3am (01.00 GMT). Israeli forces went into a money exchange shop and arrested the owner of the shop.

This was a raid unlike any other we have seen in the centre of Ramallah.

French president Emmanuel Macron has demanded a “lasting ceasefire” in Gaza during a call with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his office has said, as an escalating humanitarian crisis grips the Palestinian territory.

“France will work in the coming days in cooperation with Jordan to carry out humanitarian operations in Gaza,” the French presidency added in a statement, according to AFP.

Macron, an ally of Netanyahu since the start of the war triggered by the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, told the Israeli premier of his “deepest concern” about civilian deaths and the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.

He also insisted on the importance of measures to end violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank and prevent new planned settlements.

Netanyahu’s office said during the call the prime minister thanked Macron for “France’s involvement in defending freedom of navigation and its willingness to help restore security along Israel’s border with Lebanon”.

Macron has steadily sharpened his criticism of Israel over its Gaza offensive.

Last week he said that Israel’s goal of fighting terrorism did not mean it had to “flatten Gaza”, calling on the government “to stop this response because it is not appropriate, because all lives are worth the same and we defend them”.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war with me, Helen Livingstone.

French president Emmanuel Macron has demanded a “lasting ceasefire” in Gaza during a call with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his office has said, as an escalating humanitarian crisis grips the Palestinian territory.

“France will work in the coming days in cooperation with Jordan to carry out humanitarian operations in Gaza,” the French presidency added in a statement.

Macron, an ally of Netanyahu since the start of the war triggered by the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, told the Israeli premier of his “deepest concern” about civilian deaths and the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.

The call took place as Israeli warplanes continued to strike central and southern Gaza, including in Khan Younis where 20 Palestinians were killed in a strike near al-Amal hospital according to the Gaza health ministry.

• The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) has warned that the scale and intensity of ground operations and fighting in Gaza is hindering the delivery of aid to those in need. In a statement on Wednesday, the OCHA said humanitarian operations are “facing increasing operational challenges due to intensified hostilities, insecurity, blocked roads, scarcity of fuel, and extremely limited communications.”

• Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble. An Israeli strike killed 20 Palestinians near al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, according to a Gaza health ministry spokesperson.

• At least 21,110 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the health ministry in the territory. The ministry reported that 55,243 people had been wounded. It said 195 people were killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.

• Six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Wednesday after an Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.

• Israel’s military chief, Herzi Halevi, has said his forces are “at a very high level of readiness” amid escalating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon. Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, separately said that the situation on the country’s northern border “demands change”, adding that the time for diplomacy “is running out”. Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday morning to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The IDF said it intercepted some of the rockets. A Hezbollah fighter was killed late Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon along with his brother, a Lebanese-Australian national, and his wife, according to reports.

• Telecommunications and internet services are being gradually restored in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said on Wednesday. Phone and Internet services experienced a “complete breakdown” on Tuesday that was “due to the ongoing offensive”, it said.

• The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the people of Gaza face “grave peril”. In a statement on Wednesday, the WHO said its teams had undertaken “high-risk” missions to deliver supplies to hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, where they witnessed “intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding.”

• Israel has responded furiously to comments by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. Speaking at an awards ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan said the Israeli prime minister was no different from Hitler and likened Israel’s attacks on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis. Netanyahu responded by saying the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said Erdoğan’s remarks were “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world.

• Benjamin Netanyahu has allegedly refused requests from security officials to begin making plans for control and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war ends, according to a report. Multiple requests were conveyed on behalf of the directors of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff and the defence ministry to arrange a meeting with the prime minister’s office, Israeli media reported. Meanwhile, a White House official has said national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza.