Top UN human rights official calls resumption of Israel-Hamas war 'catastrophic'

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks during a press conference in Cairo on November 8, 2023, following a visit to Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The top United Nations official for human rights called the end of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas "catastrophic" and urged the international community to press both sides for another pause. 

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement issued in Geneva on Friday that the situation in Gaza “is beyond crisis point” as more Palestinians risk being killed or “forcibly displaced to already severely overcrowded and unsanitary parts of Gaza.”

He said “recent comments by Israeli political and military leaders indicating that they are planning to expand and intensify the military offensive are very troubling.”

Türk said both Israel and Hamas have an "obligation to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, throughout Gaza.”

Israeli warplanes carried out strikes in the Gaza Strip on Friday after the Israel Defense Forces intercepted a missile fired from Gaza and said Hamas broke the cease-fire.