UN rights chief visits Middle East amid escalating Israeli bombings in Gaza

The UN rights chief is visiting the Middle East amid rising concerns over Israel's escalation in Gaza, his office said, a month after Hamas carried out the unprecedented attack in Israel on October 7.

Volker Turk was on Tuesday in Egypt at the start of a five-day visit to the region, and was planning to visit the Rafah crossing to Gaza on Wednesday, his office said Tuesday in a statement.

Turk will visit Amman Thursday, and has also sought access to Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza, it added.

"It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage, and despair," Turk said in the statement.

"Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this vortex of pain."

Turk's visit to the region "takes place against the backdrop of the ongoing, extremely serious human rights and humanitarian crisis", his office said.

During his visit, the UN rights chief is due to engage with government officials, civil society actors, victims, and UN colleagues on the human rights situation in the region, the statement said.

In Cairo on Tuesday, he was due to meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, as well as representatives of regional civil society organisations, and the head of the Arab League.

Gaza becoming a 'graveyard for children'

His comments came a month after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack inside Israel on October 7, which claimed 1,400 lives, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has since relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in ground forces that have cut the territory in half, with soldiers encircling Gaza City.

Since the start of the Israeli strikes, over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 4,000 children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

With international criticism of Israel's war crimes, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that Gaza was becoming a "graveyard for children".

More than 1.5 million people in Gaza have fled their homes for other parts of the densely packed Palestinian territory in a desperate search for cover, with critical aid only trickling in.