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The Government Press Office of Gaza has reported that Israel has dropped 100,000 tons of explosives on the besieged Palestinian territory, conducting over 12,000 mass killings since October 7, 2023. According to the report detailing 19 months of relentless war, 11,926 Palestinian families have been wiped out, with 2,200 completely exterminated.

Humanitarian Devastation

Official figures confirm that at least 62,000 Palestinians have been killed or gone missing, including 10,000 bodies buried under rubble. The report also alleges that Israeli forces removed 2,300 bodies from mass graves.

Since the start of the Israeli military campaign, the Palestinian Ministry of Health states that 52,800 Palestinians, including 12,400 women, 1,411 health workers, 113 rescue volunteers, and 214 journalists, have been killed.

Gaza’s healthcare system has collapsed under extreme pressure, with 2.1 million cases of infectious diseases, including 71,338 hepatitis diagnoses, largely due to mass displacement, medical shortages, and failing sanitation infrastructure.

Systematic Destruction of Religious and Aid Facilities

Israeli strikes have reportedly destroyed 828 mosques, damaged 167 others, and obliterated three churches and 19 cemeteries. Additionally, 66 humanitarian facilities, 29 community kitchens, and 37 aid centers have been bombed or severely damaged.

Since March 2025, Israel has maintained an absolute blockade, blocking the entry of 37,400 trucks carrying food and fuel, a policy described as systematic starvation that continues to worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Russia was and will remain an insurmountable barrier to Nazism, Russophobia, and antisemitism, he stressed. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue fighting Nazism, including in Ukraine, during the military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s victory in World War II.

“Russia was and will remain an insurmountable barrier to Nazism, Russophobia, and antisemitism, and will combat the brutality of those promoting such aggressive and destructive ideas,” Putin said during his address from a tribune set up in Red Square in front of Lenin’s Mausoleum.

Putin declared that his country would never forget the lessons of the WW2, in which the USSR— which did not engage in the war until Germany invaded Soviet territory in 1941— lost 26 million people, including eight million soldiers. Although Kyiv did not officially join the three-day unilateral truce declared by Putin, Ukrainian drones did not spoil the Kremlin’s celebration, and none had flown over Russian territory since the day before.

Putin and Xi, Inseparable

A smiling Putin appeared on the tribune between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the 100-year-old Soviet veteran Ivan Martinushkin, the last living witness who participated in the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland by the Red Army on January 27, 1945.

Putin did not part from Xi for a single moment, constantly making comments to him about the units and military equipment parading over the cobblestones of the square. Not even when they later laid a floral offering at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

In addition to Russian troops, military detachments from thirteen countries marched, including an honor guard from China’s People’s Liberation Army. Not far from Putin sat invited leaders such as Lula da Silva (Brazil), Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela), Miguel Diaz-Canel (Cuba), Teodoro Obiang (Equatorial Guinea), and Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus).

Also invited to the tribune were American and Israeli war veterans, but notably absent were representatives from the Soviet Union’s World War II allies, who did attend the 50th and 60th anniversaries in 1995 and 2005.

Nazism Is Still Alive

Putin, who requested a moment of silence in memory of the fallen, asserted that “truth and justice” are on Russia’s side in fighting the rehabilitation of Nazism, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—who is of Jewish descent—of doing just that.

He emphasized that the ancestors of the Russian people “entrusted” their descendants to “firmly defend national interests, their millennia-old history, culture, traditional values, and everything that is valuable and sacred to us,” clearly alluding to the Russian language and Orthodox religion in Ukraine.

“The entire country, society, and people support the participants in the special military operation. We are proud of their bravery and determination, that strength of spirit which has always and only brought us victory,” he said and paid tribute to the role played by the Allied countries in defeating Hitler’s forces.

“We will always remember that the opening of a second front in Europe after the decisive battles on Soviet territory brought the victory closer… Russia highly values the contribution to our shared victory made by the soldiers of the Allied armies, resistance fighters, the brave Chinese people, and all those who fought for a peaceful future,” Putin stated.

“The complete defeat of Nazi Germany, militarist Japan, and their satellites in various parts of the world was achieved thanks to joint efforts,” he insisted.

Intercontinental Missiles and Assault Drones

During the parade itself, around 130 war machines rolled through, including the legendary Soviet T-34 tanks and SU-100 self-propelled artillery units, both used during WW2. One of the stars of the parade was the imposing Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles, which have a range of up to 7,500 miles.

Also on display were T-90M Proryv tanks—the first Russian tank with an automatic transmission; the 152mm Malva artillery piece mounted on an eight-wheeled BAZ chassis; Iskander ballistic missiles; and the new Kurganets-25 armored personnel carrier.

But the real novelty was the drones, which have proven highly effective in Ukraine. Specifically, the parade featured Geran-2 drones, widely believed to be copies of Iranian Shahed drones; Orlan reconnaissance drones; and Lancet kamikaze drones, all transported on Kamaz off-road trucks.

Port Sudan came under drone attack again on Friday, May 9, the sixth consecutive day of strikes in the coastal city that has become a vital hub for humanitarian aid and a refuge for civilians fleeing Sudan’s two-year war. The attacks, reportedly carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted key infrastructure including the airport, the port, and public buildings.

Footage online showed thick smoke rising over the city, but no official casualties or damage assessments have been released yet.

The United Nations has expressed grave concern, warning that this latest escalation risks mass civilian casualties and the destruction of essential infrastructure. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, through his spokesperson Farhan Haq, said he is alarmed by the violence spreading into an area that has served as a safe haven for thousands displaced from Khartoum and beyond.

The UN is urging all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and refrain from targeting civilians. With aid routes now threatened, the crisis in Sudan risks deepening even further.