The UN rights chief has said the "darkest moment" of the conflict in Gaza was unfolding in the north of the territory, warning that Israel's actions could amount to "atrocity crimes".
Volker Turk pointed out that already "more than 150,000 people are reportedly dead, wounded or missing in Gaza" since the war there erupted just over a year ago.
"Unimaginably, the situation is getting worse by the day," he said.
"My gravest fear is, given the intensity, breadth, scale and blatant nature of the Israeli operation currently under way in north Gaza, that number will rise dramatically," he added.
Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the deadly October 7 attack, launched a major air and ground assault in the north of the territory this month, saying it wanted to stop the militants from regrouping there.
Mr Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that Israel's policies in northern Gaza "risk emptying the area of all Palestinians".
"We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity," he said.
Mr Turk's statement pointed out that Palestinian armed groups also reportedly continue to operate among civilians, including in places of shelter, putting civilians in harm's way "which is totally unacceptable".
Mr Turk called on the world's leaders to act, stressing that all states are responsible under the Geneva Conventions to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
"For months, I have pleaded with all parties to the conflict, as well as all states ... to act to stop the carnage and destruction, to ensure the prompt and unconditional release of all hostages and to ensure international humanitarian and international human rights law are respected," he said.
"But still this goes on and on and on," he added.
His statement stressed the urgency of the situation, warning that "today the darkest moment of the Gaza conflict is unfolding in the north of the strip, where the Israeli military is effectively subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation".
"The bombing in north Gaza is non-stop," he said.
At the same time, "the Israeli military has ordered hundreds of thousands to move ... But there is no safe way to leave," he warned.
The UN rights chief cautioned that there was "extremely limited access to this part of Gaza, (and) next to no aid has reached the area in weeks".
Mr Turk said that "many are now facing starvation".
At the same time, he said, "the Israeli military is striking hospitals, and staff and patients have been killed and injured or forced to evacuate simultaneously".
The International Court of Justice had made clear Israel's obligation to ensure the entry and delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid, Mr Turk pointed out.
In particular, he highlighted the court's binding orders to ensure that Israel conforms with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, obligating other countries to act.
"Under the Genocide Convention, state parties also have the responsibility to act to prevent such a crime, when risk becomes apparent," he said.
Mr Turk warned that "international rule of law is being progressively dismantled" and urged world leaders "not to abandon that minimum of humanity".
"Either the world ashamedly fails those who so desperately need help, or we stand united and put a stop to this," he said.
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WHO 'lost contact' with Gaza staff
The World Health Organization's (WHO) chief has said they have lost contact with staff at northern Gaza's last functioning hospital, after the Israeli army said it was operating in the area.
"Since this morning's reports of a raid on Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, we have lost touch with the personnel there. This development is deeply disturbing given the number of patients being served and people sheltering there," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.
He called for an immediate ceasefire and the protection of hospitals, patients, health professionals and humanitarians.
It comes as Israeli military strikes across Gaza have killed at least 72 people since last night and Israeli forces launched a night-time raid on a hospital in the north of the enclave, Palestinian officials said.
The Gaza health ministry said a strike on houses in the southern city of Khan Younis killed at least 38 people, many of them women and children.
The Israeli military claimed its forces had killed a number of Palestinian gunmen in air and ground strikes in southern Gaza and dismantled military infrastructure.
Some residents of Khan Younis sifted through rubble in an attempt to retrieve clothes and documents, while children looked for their toys.
Ahmed Sobh recounted how his cousin had screamed "Help me, help me".
"We ran and found her children, a boy and a girl, martyred. Her son was lying under the concrete column, it took us 1.5 hours to get him out," he told Reuters.
Ahmed al-Farra described digging relatives including his mother from the rubble, adding he had lost 15 members of his extended family during the airstrikes.
"As I was trying to dig (my mother) out I looked at this wall and saw a tank aiming at me. I was thinking 'shall I dig or shall I watch the tank,' what shall I do? I dug her out full of fear. Everyone was doing the same, digging in fear," he said.
At the nearby Nasser Hospital, medics prepared the dead, among them three children wrapped in the same white shroud.
Hospital stormed
In northern Gaza, where an area around the town of Jabalia has been the target of a weeks-long offensive, health officials said Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities struggling to operate there, and stationed forces outside it.
"The terrorising of civilians, the injured and children began as they (the Israeli army) started opening fire on the hospital," Eid Sabbah, the hospital's director of nursing, said in a voice note to Reuters.
When the army retreated, a delegation from the World Health Organization arrived with an ambulance and evacuated some patients.
The WHO confirmed it had transferred 49 patients and caregivers to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city.
"We saw mayhem and chaos... The emergency wards (in Kamal Adwan) were overflowing, and we saw numerous patients being brought in and horrific trauma patients, completely overwhelming the staff," Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory said in an update on the operation.
Israel's military humanitarian unit, Cogat, which oversees aid and commercial shipments to Gaza, claimed the military facilitated the transfer of 49 patients to other hospitals, the entry of a fuel truck for the Kamal Adwan hospital, and the delivery of 180 blood units and medical supplies.
After the partial evacuation, Israeli tanks returned and opened fire on the hospital, striking its oxygen stores, before raiding the building and ordering staff and patients to leave, the nursing director Dr Sabbah said.
The Israeli military claimed it was operating in the area of Kamal Adwan hospital based on intelligence "regarding the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure" there.
Medics at three hospitals have refused Israeli orders to evacuate and leave patients unattended.
They said at least 800 Palestinians had been killed in northern Gaza since the army began the new offensive three weeks ago.
Israel claims its forces returned to northern Gaza to root out Hamas fighters who have regrouped there. The Israeli military reported that three of its soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza.
Hamas' armed wing said its fighters detonated a bomb against an Israeli army vehicle in Jabalia in the north. It was not clear if this was the same incident.
New ceasefire push
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on three houses in the nearby Gaza town of Beit Lahiya killed 25 people and wounded dozens more, medics said.
An Israeli airstrike also killed nine people in Shati camp in Gaza city, medics said, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire across the enclave to at least 72 since last night.
The escalation came as the US renewed its push for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
A Hamas official confirmed to Reuters that a delegation led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya arrived in Cairo yesterday for talks with Egyptian officials.
The official said Hamas was determined any agreement must end the war in Gaza, get Israeli forces out of the enclave and achieve a prisoners-for-hostages swap deal.
US and Israeli negotiators will gather in Qatar in the coming days to try to restart talks, officials said. Israel is also fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The war erupted when Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The death toll from Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza is approaching 43,000, with the densely populated enclave destroyed by Israeli strikes.
