UN human rights chief warns of ‘apocalyptic’ crisis in Gaza as fighting intensifies

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

Israel intensified its military operations in Gaza's second largest city today, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee and making it more difficult to deliver aid.

Amna Nawaz:

The United Nations says nearly 1.9 million people, or over 80 percent of Gaza's population, have been displaced by the war, many several times over. They're now crowded into small areas in South and Central Gaza, with the humanitarian situation worsening by the day.

Southern Gaza is now the center of the war. And, once again, civilians bear the brunt, caught between Hamas hiding among them and Israel's bombardment. In Khan Yunis overnight, Amal Mehdi and her two children were jolted awake by an Israeli airstrike. Sifting through the wreckage, she says they're lucky to be alive.

Amal Mahdi, Displaced Gazan (through translator):

We were peacefully sleeping, not bothering anyone, asleep, and I have young children, minding our own business. All of a sudden, the bombardment hit us. It was a miracle that we were pulled from under the rubble.

Israel says its troops have fully breached Khan Yunis in what they call a third phase of ground operations, surrounding the house of Gaza's Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. And the Israel Defense Forces released this rare image of 11 Hamas military commanders, five of whom the IDF says have been killed.

But fighting continues in the north. Officials today claimed they discovered the largest weapons cache yet near a school in Gaza City. Palestinians, meanwhile, are being pushed into rapidly shrinking spaces.

Mohammed Hamo fled his home in the north.

Mohammed Hamo, Displaced Gazan (through translator):

They told us to go to the south because it is safe. Nothing will happen to you there. No place is safe in Gaza.

Amna Nawaz:

In the overcrowded Nasser Hospital, 11-year-old Saba Magnum with an injured arm frantically searches for her father. Her younger siblings collapse into tears when he's found.

They're told that he's just injured his leg, but they cling to their father, injured in an airstrike at a Khan Yunis school.

Saba Magnum, 11-Year-Old Airstrike Survivor (through translator): We were at the school. They hit us twice. It landed on us and on my father. Then they all got injured.

Amna Nawaz:

Five-year-old Amir was there.

Amir Magnum, 5-year-Old Airstrike Survivor (through translator): I went into the classroom and went to play with my friend. Then, suddenly, I heard a sound going boom, and we ran. Father — a big rock fell on my father, hit him here. And a big rock fell on me here.

Amna Nawaz:

Hospitals elsewhere have become funeral grounds. Mourners gathered outside this facility in Deir al Balah, reciting prayers beside dozens of bodies lining the street.

According to Doctors Without Borders, hospitals are running critically low on fuel and medical supplies with some 200 wounded brought in every day. At the nearby U.N. distribution center, crowds desperate for food waited hours for a small portion of flour.

Um Hussein says she's risking her life to provide for her family.

Um Hussein, Displaced Gazan (through translator):

The way they are gathering here, if there was bombing right now, how many martyrs would we have? There should be food distribution centers in every area. I didn't get anything. Where am I supposed to go?

Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: There is a heightened risk of atrocity crimes.

Amna Nawaz:

In Geneva today, the U.N.'s human rights chief, VOLKER Turk, described the situation in Gaza as apocalyptic.

Volker Turk:

Some 1.9 million out of the 2.2 million Palestinians have been displaced and are being pushed into ever-diminishing and extremely overcrowded places in Southern Gaza in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions. And humanitarian aid is again virtually cut off as fears of widespread disease and hunger spread.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, the future of postwar Gaza remains uncertain. After a report that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be willing to assume governance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted — quote — "Those who educate their children for terrorism, finance terrorism and support terrorist families will not be able to rule Gaza after eliminating Hamas."

Whatever happens next, Gazans like May Selim are determined to stay there. Sheltering in a tent city less than a mile from the Egyptian border, she says she'd rather die than move any further.

May Selim, Displaced Gazan (through translator):

For us, this is the last stop. After that, if they want to forcibly displace us, we will not leave. They can kill us right here. But we will not leave our land and our entire lives. We will not do that.