Op-Ed video: The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is a global failure

The international community cannot look away from the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, as Israel's response to the 7 October attack sees the civilian death toll spiral in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Israeli air strikes and the siege of the Gaza Strip has resulted in thousands of civilians being killed, tens of thousands injured and around 1.6 million Palestinians forced to flee their homes in the last two weeks of fighting.

Israeli bombing missions have put all of the enclave's religious communities at threat after and this was evident when an air strike hit the grounds of the historic Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City.

At least 18 people were killed in the attack, including eight children.

"I've been to Gaza several times to meet people from the religious communities there and I've seen great holiness at work," said Middle East Eye columnist Peter Oborne.

"People sacrificing their lives for their fellow man and woman - looking after the disabled, the poor, the sick, the injured.

"There's a wonderful harmony dating back centuries between the Muslims, the Christians and the other religious communities in this part of the world. And that's now under threat," he said.

"We're paying a dreadful price for the failure to agree and hammer out a ceasefire that can't come too soon."