. >>> let's bring in abc's julia macfarlane who has covered the middle east for years. julia, what are you hearing about the situation on the ground and how bad is this getting? >> reporter: andrew, this situation is a tinderbox. it's the fifth day of hostilities and the israeli military is intensifying its bombardment in gaza. this morning launching an operation involving 160 aircraft, tanks, artillery and ground troops along the border to try to destroy those tunnels built by militants in gaza. meanwhile, palestinian militants have continued to bombard israel with rocket attacks. more than half a dozen israelis killed including two children. we're also seeing unusually conflict between jews and arab-israelis attacking each other in mixed neighborhoods. a really, really worrying sign. >> what's behind this huge explosion? the eviction is one big issue but it's more than that, yeah? >> reporter: right, andrew, those evictions have been going on for years and it's really, it's really sensitive because areas like east jerusalem were supposed to have been earmarked for a pa

here's julia macfarlane. >> reporter: tonight, the pandemic raging to new levels overseas. the white house vowing to help the currently hardest-hit country, india. >> we're proud of what we've done so far, which has included multiple plane loads. >> reporter: but that u.s. aid nowhere close enough to put a stop to the catastrophe fast unfolding in india. officials reporting new daily records this weekend. 400,000-plus new cases. more than 3,600 deaths. some experts say the figures are undercounted, and could be as much as ten times higher with ohelmed shutting doors, no oxygen for people gasping for breath. >> my father couldn't get anyt >> when i step out on my y, thehi i smell is smoke. rorter:- diis the ndeverywhere have dreaded, and e that could still boomerang beyond india. >> the greater number of mutations that occur, and the virus can become more fit to infect, replicate, and spread. >> reporter: surges also under way in brazil, iran, and turkey. global cases nearly doubling in the last two months. >> to put it in perspective, there were almost as many cases globall