The United Nations warned of an ongoing humanitarian disaster as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Power and water have been cut off, more than 1,000 wounded people have filled the city's hospitals and almost 1 million have been displaced,

The UN on Tuesday said the humanitarian situation in the besieged DR Congo city of Goma was "extremely worrying" amid mass displacement, food shortages, looted aid, overflowing hospitals and widespread sexual violence.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is deeply concerned about the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced over the last few days in Goma, North Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

There are growing international calls for peace talks to end the escalation of violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The fate of the economic and trading hub Goma is still unclear. UN officials have said the situation is chaotic with fighting continuing in parts of the city.

Bodies are lying on the streets. Medical staff in overwhelmed hospitals are treating hundreds of wounded civilians against the backdrop of gunfire and mortar fire.

Speaking to BBC Newshour while being locked down in a UN bunker in the city, the deputy head of the UN force, Vivian van de Perre, said the M23 rebels had "established" themselves in Goma, but were still facing "pockets of resistance".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday, Netanyahu said in a statement, amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push.

The fall of Goma in North Kivu marks a temporary low point in eastern DRC’s decades-long turmoil.

The rebel leader whose fighters have captured Goma, the biggest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has vowed to continue their offensive all the way to the capital, Kinshasa.

The Ugandan army said Friday that its troops stationed in eastern DR Congo would adopt a "forward defensive posture" amid escalating fighting in the region.

Rwanda is illegally occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempting to orchestrate regime change, the country's foreign minister has told the BBC. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said this followed decades of impunity and failure to hold Rwandan President Paul Kagame accountable for violating international law.