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UN says Gaza death toll still over 35,000 but not all bodies identified

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The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the Israel-Hamas war is still more than 35,000, but the enclave's Ministry of Health has updated its breakdown of the fatalities, the United Nations said on Monday after Israel questioned a sudden change in numbers, Reuters reported.

U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said the ministry's figures - cited regularly by the U.N. its reporting on the seven-month-long conflict - now reflected a breakdown of the 24,686 deaths of "people who have been fully identified."

"There's about another 10,000 plus bodies who still have to be fully identified, and so then the details of those - which of those are children, which of those are women - that will be re-established once the full identification process is complete," Haq told reporters in New York.

Israel last week questioned why the figures for the deaths of women and children has suddenly halved, read the report.

Haq said those figures were for identified bodies - 7,797 children, 4,959 women, 1,924 elderly, and 10,006 men - adding: "The Ministry of Health says that the documentation process of fully identifying details of the casualties is ongoing."

Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Monday accused Palestinian militants Hamas of manipulating the numbers, saying: "They are not accurate and they do not reflect the reality on the ground."

"The parroting of Hamas' propaganda messages without the use of any verification process has proven time and again to be methodologically flawed and unprofessional," he said in a social media post.

Haq said U.N. teams in Gaza were not able to independently verify the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) figures given the ongoing war and sheer number of fatalities.

"Unfortunately we have the sad experience of coordinating with the Ministry of Health on casualty figures every few years for large mass casualty incidents in Gaza, and in past times their figures have proven to be generally accurate," Haq said.

The World Health Organization "has a long-standing cooperation with the MoH in Gaza and we can attest that MoH has good capacity in data collection/analysis and its previous reporting has been considered credible," said WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris.

"Real numbers could be even higher," she said.

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India’s successful test of hypersonic missile puts it among elite group

The test-firing took place from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the eastern coast of Odisha state on Saturday, it said.

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India has successfully tested a domestically developed long-range hypersonic missile, it said on Sunday, attaining a key milestone in military development that puts it in a small group of nations possessing the advanced technology, Reuters reported.

The global push for hypersonic weapons figures in the efforts of some countries, such as India, which is striving to develop advanced long-range missiles, along with China, Russia and the United States.

The Indian missile, developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation and industry partners, is designed to carry payloads for ranges exceeding 1,500 km (930 miles) for the armed forces, the government said in a statement.

"The flight data ... confirmed the successful terminal manoeuvres and impact with high degree of accuracy," it added.

The test-firing took place from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the eastern coast of Odisha state on Saturday, it said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called the test a "historic achievement" in a post on X, adding that it placed India among a select group of nations possessing such critical and advanced technologies, read the report.

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Iran denies meeting between envoy and Elon Musk

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Musk, who is an adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations

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Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Saturday strongly denied a reported meeting between Tehran's United Nations envoy and U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, in an interview with state TV.

Araqchi also warned that Iran was "prepared for confrontation or cooperation" in its dispute with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA and Western countries within the body over its nuclear programme, Reuters reported.

"This (reported meeting) was a fabricated story by American media, and the motives behind this can also be speculated," Araqchi said, reiterating an earlier denial by Iran's Foreign Ministry.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Musk, who is an adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, met with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations on Monday.

"In my opinion, the American media’s fabrication about a meeting between Elon Musk and Iran’s representative is a form of testing the waters to see if the ground for such move exists," Araqchi said.

"We are still waiting for the new U.S. administration to clarify its policies, and based on that, we will adjust our own policies. Right now, it is neither the time for such meetings nor is it appropriate," Araqchi said.

"There was no permission from the leadership for such a meeting," Araqchi said, referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state.

Relations between Tehran and the IAEA have soured over several long-standing issues, including Iran barring the agency's uranium-enrichment experts from the country and its failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites, Reuters reported.

"Our nuclear path in the coming year will be sensitive and complex, and we are prepared for confrontation or cooperation," Araqchi said.

He said that the 2015 nuclear deal, from which Trump exited in 2018 in his first term, no longer holds the same value for Iran.

"If negotiations begin, the nuclear pact may serve as a reference, but it no longer has its previous significance. We must reach a feasible agreement," Araqchi said.

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Netanyahu claims he and Trump see ‘eye to eye’ on Iran after holding 3 calls within days

Netanyahu said Trump’s historic return to the White House offers a ‘powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America’

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a voice message on Sunday night that he and US President-elect Donald Trump have spoken on the phone three times in the past few days and that both are on the same page about Iran. 

“In recent days, I have spoken three times with US President-elect Donald Trump. These were very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the US.

“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect. 

“We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas,” he said.

Iran has vowed a “punishing” reprisal for unprecedented Israeli airstrikes against it on October 26, which Jerusalem said took out the Islamic Republic’s air defenses and missile production capabilities.

Israel’s strikes were in retaliation for Iran’s October 1 barrage of 200 ballistic missiles, which forced most of the country to take shelter and killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank. 

Days earlier, Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime head of Hezbollah. Israel also killed Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas in Tehran.

Trump will take control of the US in January and has a record of anti-Iran actions. 

In his first term, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers and later re-imposed sanctions on Tehran. 

He also ordered the killing of Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force. 

The IRGC is a US-designated terrorist organization.

Trump and Netanyahu also worked closely together during the former’s presidency.

Last week, Netanyahu stated Trump’s victory was “history’s greatest comeback!”

In a message on X he wrote: “Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!

“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”

He went on to say that “this is a huge victory!”

Signing off he wrote: “In true friendship, yours, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu.”

Israeli media has meanwhile reported that Trump has made it clear to Netayahu that he wants the wars in Gaza and Lebanon to be wrapped up by his inauguration on January 20.

 

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