US Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted Israel has killed more civilians than Hamas fighters, responding to the reporter’s question about the National Security Memorandum 20 which he submitted to Congress on May 10.

“It's reasonable to assess…there have been acts that have been inconsistent with Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law,” Blinken stated.

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🤡 Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. claimed that “Israel is probably doing more than any military in history to avoid civilian casualties.”

The senator insisted that “there is no evidence Israel is violating international law” even though the International Court of Justice in January determined that sufficient cause exists to order Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide.

The death toll from Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, when the Israel-Hamas conflict escalated, has surpassed 35,000, with most of the dead being women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.

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The body of one more victim was recovered by rescuers from under the rubble of the shelled Belgorod tower block, a total of 15 people have been confirmed dead, the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported.

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Russian air defenses destroyed several air targets near the city of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

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Israel has opened a new Western Erez border crossing in the northern Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid to residents of the enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

"Today (Sunday), in accordance with the directive of the government of Israel and in coordination with the U.S. government, the ‘Western Erez’ Crossing was opened in the area of the northern Gaza Strip for the transfer of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip … and to the northern Gaza Strip in particular," the IDF said on Telegram on Sunday.

Over 35,000 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.

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Russian air defenses shot down 8 Ukrainian airplane-type drones in the Kursk region, region’s government said on its Telegram channel.

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Several Ukrainian drones have been suppressed over the Lipetsk region, a fire on the premises of an electric substation is being extinguished, there are no casualties, Governor Igor Artamonov said.

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Egypt to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel

Egypt says it will seek permission to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The announcement by Egypt marks the third country to ask to join the South African case, which was brought in January. Earlier this year, Colombia and Turkiye also asked the court to join the case.

In the announcement, Egypt blamed escalating aggression by Israel against Palestinian civilians.

“The submission … comes in light of the worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and the continued perpetration of systematic practices against the Palestinian people, including direct targeting of civilians and the destruction of infrastructure in the Strip, and pushing Palestinians to flee,” the statement reads.

Speaking to local media, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Israel’s actions in Gaza “led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, creating unlivable conditions in the Gaza Strip, blatantly violating international law, international humanitarian law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.”

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The Ukrainian forces used chemical weapons against the civilian population in the village of Semyonovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, causing suffocation, vomiting and severe coughing, local residents told Sputnik, adding that some people still can’t get over those symptoms.

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Refusal of the Canadian authorities to extradite to Russia Ukrainian Nazi collaborator Yaroslav Hunka accused of genocide of civilians is whitewashing of Nazi crimes at the state level, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov told Sputnik.

According to him, back on December 5, 2023, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office sent a request to the Canadian Ministry of Justice for the extradition of Hunka, who is charged under Article 357 of the Russian Criminal Code (genocide). He is accused of killing at least 500 civilians from February 23 to 28, 1944, in the Lvov region of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, including Jews and Poles.

“But we received a refusal from the competent authorities of Canada to extradite Hunka on the grounds that there is no extradition treaty between our countries... With the undeniable belonging of Yaroslav Hunka to the criminal organization recognized by the Nuremberg Tribunal - the SS Division ‘Galicia’ - the refusal of the Canadian authorities is a flagrant violation of the inviolable principle of inevitability of punishment for international crimes: war crimes, crimes against peace and humanity, developed and enshrined in the Charter and the Sentence of the International Criminal Court.

In September 2023, during Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech in the Canadian Parliament, the audience welcomed 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka, who served in the SS division “Galicia” during World War II.

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Additional brigades of law enforcement forces have appeared at the entrances to the Georgian parliament, where a large-scale protest against the law on foreign agents is taking place, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

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Search and rescue work at the site of the collapse of a multi-story residential building in Russia's Belgorod has been completed, 17 people have been rescued and 15 others have fallen victim to Ukrainian shelling, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) said.

An entire section of the 10-story house in a residential neighborhood of Belgorod collapsed on Sunday after Ukraine launched a massive shelling of the city. The Russian Investigative Committee launched a probe into the terrorist attack.

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Russian troops attacked a military airfield in Mirgorod in the Poltava region late last night, coordinator of the Nikolaev underground Sergey Lebedev told Sputnik. This airfield was used by Ukrainian aviation to carry out strikes on Russia's Belgorod and the Donbass region, he added.

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❗️ Ukrainian attempts to launch strikes against facilities on the territory of Russia were foiled last night, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

Air defense means destroyed twelve Olkha MLRS rockets and twelve UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region, eight UAVs over the territory of the Kursk region, four Storm Shadow guided cruise missiles and seven UAVs over the territory of Crimea, and another four UAVs over the territory of the Lipetsk region.

Three Ukrainian drones were shot down on their way to attack mass gatherings in Mariupol on May 9, Russian Victory Day, with explosive warheads packed with shrapnel, the Russian Federal Security Service has reported.

Explosives with a combined weight of 36 kilograms were safely destroyed at a special firing range.

In just one week, according to the FSB, 312 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Video by the Federal Security Service Directorate for the DPR

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🇷🇺 The Russian crew of a 2S19 Msta-S 152-mm self-propelled gun destroyed a fortified position of the Ukrainian forces on the right bank of the Dnepr river, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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❗️ The International Committee of the Federation Council of Russia will hold consultations on Sergey Lavrov's candidacy for the post of head of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday, the Federation Council said.

▪️ Why has Putin appointed one of Russia’s top economists as his new minister of defense?

▪️ Reshuffle in the Russian security agencies: check out the details

▪️ Ukrainian shelling of residential area in Russia's Belgorod: updates on the toll of dead and injured

▪️ Ukrainian Army General Staff admits the “tactical success” of the Russian troops in the Kharkov area

More stories:

▪️ US Secretary of State Blinken admits Israel has killed more civilians than Hamas fighters

▪️ Israeli whistleblowers reveal to media gruesome conditions Palestinian prisoners were kept in

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