Middle East crisis live: Israel accused of the ‘war crime of forcible transfer’ in Gaza

In operational updates posted to its official Telegram channel, Israel has claimed that in the past week it has killed “over 200” Hezbollah operatives and destroyed 140 rocket launchers in its attacks on southern Lebanon.

Authorities in Lebanon have put the death toll from recent Israeli strikes at over 3,000, with more than 14,000 people injured. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.

It its statement, the IDF said of its attacks on Lebanon “These strikes further degrade Hezbollah’s capability to carry out terror attacks from southern Lebanon against Israeli civilians on the northern border. The IDF will continue to operate to thwart any danger or threat against the State of Israel.”

Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in the north of the country, and Benjamin Netanyahu has set their safe return as one of Israel’s war aims.

Israel’s military also states that it continues to operate in the Beit Lahia and Jabaliya areas of the Gaza Strip where, it says, “troops located a large amount of weapons and eliminated dozens of terrorists from the air and ground.”

The claims have not been independently verified.

Israel is using evacuation orders to pursue the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, which says the policy amounts to crimes against humanity.

The US-based group added it had collected evidence that suggested “the war crime of forcible transfer [of the civilian population]”, describing it as “a grave breach of the Geneva conventions and a crime under the Rome statute of the international criminal court”.

The report was published amid mounting evidence that Israel is accelerating its efforts to cut the Gaza Strip in two with a buffer zone and is building new infrastructure to support a prolonged military presence, with an increased pace of demolitions and destruction.

Residents in northern Gaza said Israeli forces were besieging displaced families and the remaining population, which some estimated at a few thousand, ordering them to head south through a checkpoint separating two towns and a refugee camp from Gaza City.

Men were held for questioning, while women and children were allowed to continue towards Gaza City, residents and Palestinian medics said.

Calling for Israel’s policy of forced displacement to be investigated by the international criminal court, Human Rights Watch also urged targeted sanctions against Israel including the cessation of arms sales.

Read more here: Israel accused of crimes against humanity over forced displacement in Gaza

Welcome to the Guardian’s ongoing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. Here are the headlines …

• Israel’s military has claimed that in the last week it has killed “over 200” Hezbollah members and dismantled 140 rocket launchers in southern Lebanon. The claims have not been independently verified

• Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday that Israel’s repeated evacuation orders in Gaza amount to the “war crime of forcible transfer”, and to “ethnic cleansing” in parts of the Palestinian territory

• International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi met Iran’s top diplomat Thursday during a visit to Tehran. Later, Grossi is expected to meet president Masoud Pezeshkian in their first meeting since his election earlier this year, and to hold a press conference

• Australia has backed a UN resolution to recognise the “permanent sovereignty” of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, marking a major departure from its previous position

• Ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry’s said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that parent company Unilever has silenced its attempts to express support for Palestinian refugees