By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Israeli forces, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have both committed serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza and carried out atrocity crimes, a U.N. report published on Thursday said.

Intensified Israeli attacks and the forcible transfer of Palestinians appeared aimed at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza "raising concerns over ethnic cleansing," the report by the U.N. human rights office said.

The head of Doctors Without Borders in the Palestinian territories told AFP the charity would continue working in Gaza for as long as possible, following an Israeli decision to end its activities there.

In early February, Israel announced it was terminating all the activities in Gaza by the medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff.

MSF has slammed the move, which takes effect on March 1, as a "pretext" to obstruct aid.

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that it was seeing an unprecedented escalation of tension around Iran as the United States moved military assets into the Middle East, and the Kremlin urged both Tehran and "other parties" to exercise prudence and restraint.

The U.S. has deployed warships near Iran, while also holding talks with Tehran on limiting its nuclear programme.

BAGHDAD, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A Turkish parliamentary commission's approval of a report setting out a roadmap for legal reforms alongside the disbandment of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group is an important step and the beginning of a fundamental change in Turkish policy, a PKK source told Reuters on Thursday.

The commission voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to approve the report, advancing a peace process designed to end decades of conflict.

Iran's atomic energy chief on Thursday said "no country can deprive Iran of the right" to nuclear enrichment, following fresh US warning that there were "many reasons" to strike the Islamic republic.

The two foes recently resumed indirect talks, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, at first over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month then more recently over its nuclear programme.

A British couple detained in Iran since January 2025 have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for espionage, their family announced on Thursday, triggering condemnation from the UK government.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their 50s, were arrested while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, according to relatives, and have consistently denied Tehran's spying claims.

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Thursday condemned as "totally unjustifiable" the 10-year sentence given to a British couple in Iran for spying, saying the government would continue to press for their release.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman had been charged with espionage after Iran accused them of gathering information in several parts of the country.

"We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family," Cooper said in a statement.

Israel's increased attacks and forcible transfers of Palestinians "raise concerns over ethnic cleansing" in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the United Nations said Thursday.

The cumulative impact of Israel's military conduct during the war in Gaza and blockade of the territory, has inflicted living conditions "increasingly incompatible with Palestinians' continued existence as a group in Gaza", said the UN human rights office.

SYDNEY, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the "Muslim race", local media reported.

Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol religious sites including the mosque, as well as community events.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment seen by Reuters and sources in the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fuelled widespread scepticism about the prospects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory.