Sri Lanka, May 18 -- The United Nations demanded on Monday (May 18) that Israel take measures to prevent acts of "genocide" in Gaza, and decried indications of "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory and in the occupied West Bank.

In a fresh report, the UN rights office said Israel's actions in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023 involved "gross violations" of international law, amounting in many cases to "war crimes and other atrocity crimes".

UN rights chief Volker Turk called in the report on Israel to ensure compliance with a 2024 International Court of Justice order that it take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

Israel, he said, should ensure "with immediate effect that its military does not engage ...