Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
The White House on Thursday said that the death toll in Gaza cannot be taken “at face value”, but did not dispute that thousands of Palestinians, among them civilians and children, have been killed in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said that information coming from the health ministry in Gaza cannot be trusted, as it is run by Hamas.
“We all know that Gaza's administrative health is just a front for Hamas, it is run by Hamas, a terrorist organisation,” Mr Kirby told reporters.
“We can't take anything coming out of Hamas including the so-called Ministry of Health at face value.”
Pressed by a journalist on whether he would dispute that thousands of people have been killed since Israel's siege of Gaza began, Mr Kirby answered: “We absolutely know that the death toll continues to rise in Gaza, of course we know that.
“We would not dispute that.”
Mr Kirby's comments come a day after President Joe Biden shed doubt on the number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.
“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Mr Biden said. “I'm sure innocents have been killed and it's a price of waging war.
“But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”
On October 7, Hamas gunmen launched an attack on southern Israel, killing 1,400 people. Israel responded by launching daily aerial attacks on Gaza, killing more than 7,000 people, according to the health ministry.
In response to Mr Biden's comments, Gaza's health ministry on Thursday published a 212-page report with a list of the names, identification numbers, genders and ages of 6,747 people it said have been killed since October 7.
An additional 281 people, including 248 children, were listed as “unidentified”, bringing the total to 7,028.
The report said the death toll is likely to be much higher as it does not include those missing or not brought to hospital.
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
