The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has begun a five-day visit to the Middle East to engage with government officials and civil society on the human rights violations taking place amid Israel’s escalation in Gaza, Reuters reports.

“It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage, and despair,” Turk said in a 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 is in Cairo on Tuesday and will visit Rafah, located on the border with Gaza, on Wednesday, before he travels to the Jordanian capital of Amman on Thursday, his office said.