JOHN YANG: Good evening.
I'm John Yang.
Almost from the very beginning of the Israel Hamas war, seven months ago next week, aid groups have been warning that Gaza was a humanitarian crisis in the making.
And now Cindy McCain, head of the U.N.'s World Food Programme, tells NBC's Meet the Press the situation has reached a perilous phase.
CINDY MCCAIN, World Food Programme: What I can explain to you is that there is famine, full blown famine in the north, and it's moving its way south.
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC News White House correspondent: I just want to be very clear, because what you're saying is significant, and I believe it's the first time we've heard it.
You're saying there is full blown famine.
CINDY MCCAIN: Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER: In northern Gaza.
CINDY MCCAIN: I am.
Yes, I am.
KRISTEN WELKER: And there has not been an official declaration that there is known.
But you are saying that based on what you've seen.
CINDY MCCAIN: Yes, it is based on what we've seen and what we've experienced on the ground.
Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER: Which is?
CINDY MCCAIN: It's horror.
It's so hard to look at and it's so hard to hear.
JOHN YANG: Also in southern Gaza today, an Israeli airstrike sent plumes of smoke into the skies.
Report said six people were killed in two different locations.
As all this was going on, efforts to negotiate a deal between Israel and Hamas for a hostage release and a truce were said to be intensifying.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo today, but Israel has not yet sent a team of negotiators.
As the college commencement season gets into full swing, tensions on campuses remain high due to anti-war protests.
At the University of Virginia this afternoon, police arrested several protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus saying it was an unlawful assembly.
And at the University of Michigan, there was a brief disturbance when protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted anti-war messages.
About 50 people took part.
Today also marked the 54th anniversary of the death of four students at Kent State University in Ohio during a Vietnam War protest.
Last night, there was a candlelight vigil commemorating the day Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on protesters.
In Ukraine, new drone footage reveals the damage Russia has inflicted on a village in the eastern Donetsk region.
No building appears untouched, many looking damaged beyond repair.
Residents have fled, and Ukraine's military acknowledges that Russia has gained a foothold as troops advance against Ukraine's depleted defenses.
In Kharkiv to the north, Russia stepped up attacks overnight.
Exploding drones set fire to two buildings in an industrial area.
Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraine's second largest city, which is only 25 miles from the Russian border.
And around Houston, more 400 people have been rescued from their homes after fierce storms left neighborhoods flooded.
And officials say more rain forecasts for tonight could make the situation even worse.
In a 24 hours period, more than eleven inches of rain fell, inundating roads and homes and forcing a number of high water rescues.
Authorities urged residents of low lying areas to evacuate ahead of tonight's rains.
Still to come on PBS News, the potential consequences of American troops pulling out of two African nations.
And after fleeing the war, a Ukrainian family begins to rebuild in America.
