At least 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and 76,770 wounded in Israel‘s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Iran could review its “nuclear doctrine” following Israeli threats, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has said, raising concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme which it has always said was strictly for peaceful purposes.

Israel has said it will retaliate against Iran’s 13 April missile and drone attack, which Tehran says was carried out in response to a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Damascus earlier this month.

“The threats of the Zionist regime (Israel) against Iran’s nuclear facilities make it possible to review our nuclear doctrine and deviate from our previous considerations,” Ahmad Haghtalab, the Guards commander in charge of nuclear security, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“If [Israel] wants to take action against our nuclear centres and facilities, we will surely and categorically reciprocate with advanced missiles against their own nuclear sites.”

Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact has stalled since 2022. The accord, aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, required Tehran to accept restrictions on its nuclear program and more extensive United Nations’ inspections, in exchange for an end to United Nations, European Union and US sanctions.

The deal, which had capped Iran’s uranium enrichment at 3.67 per cent, was abandoned in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, who said it was too generous to Tehran.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, said in February that Iran continued to enrich uranium at rates up to 60 per cent purity, which is far beyond the needs for commercial nuclear use.

The head of the U.N. agency that has helped millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades urged the Security Council on Wednesday to ensure its survival as Israel again demanded its dissolution, accusing the agency of becoming part of Hamas’ “terror war machine.”

While Israel’s war cabinet discusses its military response, its allies have heeded calls from Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz to lead a “diplomatic attack”.

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has called for a Fifa sanction and to exclude the Israel Football Association (IFA) from Fifa on the grounds of human rights and humanitarian law violations committed in the Gaza Strip.

The submission to the international football governing body concerns a number of violations of both international law and Fifa regulations.

The European Union’s top diplomat urged Group of Seven foreign ministers on Thursday to take quick, concrete steps to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine, warning that continued delays could tilt the war in Moscow’s favor.

Without more Patriot air defense missile systems to guard against incoming Russian strikes, “the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, in the front line,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned.

The UK’s foreign secretary told broadcasters “It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act” but he hopes it will do so “in a way that is smart as well as tough”.

Lord Cameron added his main aim was to “focus the eyes of the world back on the hostage situation” and urged Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire agreement.

Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday (14 April).

Ms Truss appeared on ITV show Peston on Wednesday (17 April) when she was asked by the presenter: “Do you think that David Cameron, the current foreign secretary, is supportive enough of Israel?”

Ms Truss replied: “I would like to see more support for Israel.”

The head of the U.N. agency that has helped millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades urged the Security Council on Wednesday to ensure its survival as Israel again demanded its dissolution, accusing the agency of becoming part of Hamas’ “terror war machine.”

Philippe Lazzarini told the council that dismantling the agency known as UNRWA would deepen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and speed up the onset of famine. International experts have warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza and said half the territory’s 2.3 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation if the six-month Israeli-Hamas war intensifies.

The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a cease-fire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution.