'Extremely high' risk of serious abuses amid expanded Israel Gaza operation: UN

The UN rights chief warned Tuesday that Israel's expanded operations in central Gaza created an "extremely high" risk of serious international law violations.

"These Israeli airstrikes and ground operations will invariably lead to further civilian deaths and destruction of civilian infrastructure," Volker Turk said in a statement, cautioning that "given the concentration of civilians in the area, and the means and methods of warfare employed by Israel until now, the risks of unlawful killings and other serious violations of international humanitarian law are extremely high".