Mohamed Hijazi says it is like being buried alive. On April 17, in the early morning, an unexpected call changed his life forever. It was his cousin. He gave him the worst news: his younger sister, his three nephews, and his brother-in-law were among the nineteen victims rescued from under the rubble of the Hijazi building, opposite the Tir promenade. There were only a few minutes left before the ten-day ceasefire came into effect when Israeli planes bombed the building. The explosion ripped through the neighborhood at the very moment silence was supposed to begin. The truce arrived amid screams, tears, and rage.

Lebanese activist Sarah Abdallah posted a chilling photomontage on X showing eight journalists making the victory sign. The text accompanying the image was very clear: "Israel has killed everyone in this photograph. Everyone. They were journalists. Targeted and intentionally murdered. For reporting from the front line."

Finally, the second round of talks between the United States and Iran seems to have been unlocked. Both Washington and Tehran announced this Friday that they are sending delegations to Islamabad. However, after a week of announcements and subsequent denials, and amid an escalation of assaults and interceptions of ships in Hormuz, skepticism still predominates about the fruits that dialogue between the two parties may yield. The few details about when and how this second round of negotiations may occur add uncertainty to the situation.

There are lines that precede their own existence. In southern Lebanon, one of them does not appear on any map, has not been validated by any agreement, nor recognized by the United Nations. However, it already imposes its logic on the ground, on displacements, and on destruction. The Israelis call it the "yellow line". And, as often happens in this region, what is born as a provisional military device tends to become permanent.

Jean-Pierre Filiu is one of the foremost experts on the Arab world in Europe. A former French diplomat, Arabist and historian, and professor at Sciences Po, he visited Barcelona at the invitation of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). He was one of the few European analysts to enter Gaza since October 7, 2023, and recounts his experience in A Historian in Gaza, which the publishing house La Cebra has just released in Spanish.

The old Palace of Justice in Sidon, about 60 kilometers south of Beirut, is once again full of life. But not for the reasons it was built. The old courtrooms, which had been closed for 35 years, have changed function. Where there were once files, judicial hearings, and institutional silence, there are now mattresses lined up against the walls, clothes hung on ropes, and families trying to rebuild a minimal life between cracked walls and roofs that do not fully protect.

The breeze barely manages to soften the tension that can be felt in the improvised camps next to the Beirut promenade. Under tarpaulins held up with ropes and scraps of wood, dozens of families continue here, a few meters from the sea, although the ceasefire has been in effect for hours. No one is dismantling anything, yet. Few seem willing to believe that this time it will last.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Joseph Aoun, will speak this Thursday for the first time in 34 years, a meeting that was later confirmed by Likud, the party of the Israeli Prime Minister. But a little later Aoun has made it a condition that a ceasefire be agreed before any direct conversation takes place. "The ceasefire that Lebanon demands from Israel would be the natural starting point for any negotiation," he said in a statement.

While diplomatic channels are discreetly activated, in southern Lebanon the war continues with an intensity that belies any sign of a truce. The paradox is not new in the Middle East, but it is rarely so evident: talks are beginning, but the front does not stop.

They waited until the second day to flee. Experience, even in a war, counts for something. The first time Sara Ajami and her family had to leave their home, a small village near Tyre in southern Lebanon, due to Israeli shelling, they had to queue for 15 hours. In 2024, under the shadow of the Gaza war, Israel invaded Lebanon, thousands of people from the south had gathered on the roads leading north. This time, on March 2, under the shadow of the Iran war, Israel launched the offensive in Lebanon, Sara and her family stayed home one more night, exposing themselves to danger, to avoid the queues.

The real problem with what has happened in recent times in the Near East and Middle East is the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his permanent ultranationalist and militaristic forward flight to stay in power and thus evade the judicial cases that plague him. After the genocide perpetrated in Gaza in response to Hamas's terrorist attack, Israel has pushed the United States of Trump into a war against the ayatollahs' Iran and has taken advantage of the military escalation to unashamedly execute its expansionist ambitions in the region. The objective: to gain security space by destroying its historical enemies.

In the Ain al-Mreisseh neighborhood, next to the Beirut marina, the silence is only broken by the metallic sound of shovels and the crunch of concrete. Amidst the rubble of a building reduced to dust by Wednesday's bombings, Civil Defense teams continue searching. Four people are still trapped. They could be children. A rescuer points to a specific spot. A few hours ago, a hand was found. Now they are preparing body bags. Barely twenty-four hours have passed since, in less than ten minutes, more than a hundred air attacks hit different points in Lebanon. Beirut, which for months had served as a relative refuge, is no longer one.

Around two in the afternoon, while a warm sun illuminated the Corniche, Beirut's seaside promenade, and hundreds of Beirutis were strolling by the sea after days of tension, the sky broke with a roar. In a few minutes, a series of explosions and the flyover of fighter jets turned an afternoon that many hoped to enjoy into an afternoon of confusion and fear. What some interpreted in the morning as a sign of a pause, after the announcement of a ceasefire for two weeks between the United States and Iran, turned into the largest air offensive in Lebanon since the start of the war.

Around two in the afternoon, while a warm sun illuminated the Corniche, Beirut's seafront promenade, and hundreds of Beirutis were strolling by the sea after days of tension, the sky broke with a roar. In a few minutes, a succession of explosions and the flyover of fighter jets turned an afternoon that many had hoped to enjoy into an afternoon of confusion and fear. What some interpreted in the morning as a sign of a pause, after the announcement of a ceasefire of two weeks between the United States and Iran, has transformed into the largest air offensive in Lebanon since the start of the war.

In one of his last phone communications, on Sunday night, Benjamin Netanyahu asked Donald Trump to move forward and not stop the war, according to the Hebrew press. The continuation of the war until the regime falls is the prime minister's position, and that is why some opposition leaders criticize Netanyahu.

Four hours after the announcement of the truce between the United States and Iran, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has endorsed Washington's decision, but immediately warned that it will continue to attack Lebanon. “Israel supports President Trump's decision to suspend attacks against Iran for two weeks, provided that Iran immediately reopens the strait and ends all attacks against the United States, Israel and the countries of the region”, Netanyahu's office explained. “The ceasefire does not include Lebanon”, it assured. Israel has led the worst bombing campaign on Lebanon since the start of the war, which has already left hundreds dead, according to the country's Health Minister. The cessation of hostilities was confirmed immediately: at half past three in the morning, attacks between Tehran and Tel Aviv ceased. But early in the morning, the Israeli army reiterated that it “continues to fight the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon”, as it had advanced would happen once direct confrontation with Tehran was reduced. Instead, Pakistan, a mediator in the agreement, said that the truce had been agreed on all fronts, including Lebanon.In the hours following the announcement, Israel has continued to attack southern Lebanon. In fact, one hour before the ceasefire, an attack on an area with cafes in Sidon caused at least eight deaths and 22 injuries, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Bombings have also been reported in Srifa, south of Tyre, and in Sadiqin, with several injured. In total, the army dropped up to 160 bombs in 10 minutes, according to military sources speaking to Europa Press. Furthermore, the Israeli army has once again ordered the evacuation of the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut, and, in fact, has substantially expanded the area where it orders the population to march. It has threatened all Lebanese living south of the Zahrani River, that is, within half of Lebanon's territory.

In Lebanon, nearly one and a half million people have been displaced by the war, but among them is a group suffering a crisis that is rarely explained: African and Asian female workers and migrants. Essential to the country's functioning, they are trapped between violence and precariousness, trying to survive in a context that depends on their work, but which barely recognizes their rights. The streets of Beirut and the villages of Mount Lebanon reflect this silent reality, where war and marginalization mark daily life for those who support other people's homes while trying to care for their own.

Donald Trump has accustomed the world to paying attention to his social network. It was with a post on Truth Social, early Sunday morning, in which he announced that United States forces had managed to rescue alive the pilot who disappeared in Iran on Friday, after his plane was shot down. No official statement, no press conference, no images, no proof of the rescue. Only a message with the usual exaggerated rhetoric to glorify the US armed forces. "We got him back!", said the president, who added: "Over the past few hours, our military has carried out one of the most daring search and capture operations in United States history for one of our incredible members, who is a highly respected colonel, and I am delighted to let you know that he is now safe and sound!".

Israel advances into Lebanon towards the Litani River region, located about thirty kilometers from the border, and on the ground the sensation is clear: nothing stops it. Evacuation orders, bombings, and troop movements paint a reality that is no longer hidden. Southern Lebanon is emptying as a control that no one has declared, but which is already imposed, is gradually being established.

The attack took place in broad daylight on a secondary road in the Jezzine district, southern Lebanon. A moving vehicle, identified as press, received a first impact, and minutes later, a second in the same area. Inside were three journalists: Ali Shuaib, correspondent for Al-Manar; Fatima Ftouni, reporter for Al-Mayadeen; and her brother, cameraman Mohammad Ftouni. All three died instantly, and the images broadcast show the vehicle reduced to rubble on the asphalt, in a section where there were no visible combat at the time.