The UN human rights chief has warned against a clampdown on free speech in the Middle East, Israel and the US amid the ongoing conflict, Al Jazeera reports.

“We are witnessing a sharp securitisation of civic space across the region, with severe restrictions imposed by governments on people exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Volker Turk has said in a statement.

Turk has also slammed “attempts to limit media freedom, such as restrictions imposed by Israeli military censorship authorities, and a threat by the US Federal Communications Commission to revoke broadcast licences for coverage deemed critical of the war”.