Nearly 1.5 million Palestinians have been called to the polls this Saturday in municipal elections to choose local councils in the first elections since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in 2023. The event has allowed, for the first time in twenty years, a vote to also be held in Gaza, in the city of Deir al-Balah, with 70,000 potential voters. In this municipality, one of the few that has not been devastated by the war, the elections have been eminently symbolic: the ballot boxes and the ballots had to be improvised.The day dawned gray in the West Bank. At seven in the morning, the polling stations opened amidst a strange routine: short queues, hushed conversations, and the shared feeling that today people were voting more out of responsibility than out of real hope for change.In a school in Al-Bireh, the capital of Ramallah, converted into an electoral center, voters have entered one by one. Throughout the day, the trickle has been constant. Participation slightly exceeded 53% in the West Bank, while in Gaza –where polling stations closed earlier to count votes by natural light, due to the lack of a stable electricity network– it stood at around 23%, according to the Palestinian Central Electoral Commission, the independent body responsible for administering the elections.“I don’t think this will change much. But if we stop voting, we will disappear even more”, says Bisan, a 29-year-old teacher from Ramallah. “My students find it hard to believe it's worth anything. And I can’t tell them the opposite with complete certainty”.The vote, which took place in more than 420 locations across the territory, has served to elect municipal councils responsible for basic services –water, electricity, roads, waste collection, and building permits–, but its political scope is limited: any relevant decision continues to be conditioned by Israel.The day has arrived, moreover, marked by a restricted political field and a generalized disaffection towards politics. In key cities like Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, or Nablus, there has been no vote because only one electoral list has been presented, which has been automatically declared the winner. In total, more than forty municipalities and more than a hundred towns have been resolved with the same logic, and in some areas, no candidates were even registered.“We don’t vote thinking about big politics. We vote thinking if we will have light, if they will fix the streets. It’s very little, but it’s what we have”, explains Rasha, a 38-year-old nurse. Her husband, Mohammed, adds: “People have lost faith in the parties, in the Palestinian Authority, in everything.”The majority of the candidacies have been linked to the Fatah movement, led by the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, in power for more than two decades without being re-elected in general elections. In many municipalities, candidacies close to Fatah have competed with independent lists linked to other factions, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, of a Marxist-Leninist character.Omar, a 45-year-old shopkeeper accompanying his elderly mother, both wearing the Palestinian kufia, summarizes the sentiment of many voters: “It’s like choosing between one option and the same option, we don’t vote out of conviction, but out of habit. And because not doing so would be worse.”Voting in campaign tents

In Deir al-Balah, in the center of Gaza, the vote has had an eminently symbolic character, which the authorities themselves describe as a pilot project. This city is one of the few that has not been completely devastated by the war, although in December 2024 an Israeli bombing destroyed the municipal building and killed the mayor and ten workers.Unable to conduct a conventional electoral process or even send ballots or ballot boxes normally, the Palestinian Central Electoral Commission has improvised the system with recycled materials: wooden ballot boxes and blue ink left over from a vaccination campaign. Voting took place in tents and open spaces. All this amidst a fragile ceasefire and new Israeli bombings.Hamas, which won the 2006 parliamentary elections in the Strip, has not officially participated in these elections, although some candidacies have been perceived as close to the group, as reported by Reuters.Beyond the election of municipal councils, the ballots have been interpreted as an attempt by the Palestinian National Authority to strengthen its legitimacy in a context of growing distrust and the absence of national elections since 2006. In fact, some polls place distrust in the Palestinian Authority above 70%. Analysts point out that the Palestinian Authority has wanted to project an image of political, financial and administrative reforms, using these local elections as a symbol. In parallel, the simultaneous holding of elections in the West Bank, in a context of settlement expansion, Israeli settler violence and military control, seeks to reaffirm its institutional relevance. However, the Authority's room for maneuver remains limited: it exercises partial autonomy in the West Bank, while Israel maintains effective control over much of the territory and resources.

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Nearly 1.5 million Palestinians have been called to the polls this Saturday in municipal elections to choose local councils in the first elections since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in 2023. The event has allowed, for the first time in twenty years, for a vote to also be held in Gaza, in the city of Deir al-Balah, with 70,000 potential voters. In this municipality, one of the few that has not been devastated by the war, the elections have been eminently symbolic: the ballot boxes and ballots had to be improvised.The day dawned gray in the West Bank. At seven in the morning, the polling stations opened amidst a strange routine: short queues, quiet conversations, and the shared feeling that today was a vote driven more by responsibility than by any real hope for change.In a school in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah, voters entered one by one. Throughout the day, the trickle was constant. Turnout slightly exceeded 53% in the West Bank, while in Gaza – where polling stations closed earlier to count votes by natural light, due to the lack of a stable electricity grid – it stood at around 23%, according to the Palestinian Central Electoral Commission, the independent body responsible for administering the elections.“I don't think this will change much. But if we stop voting, we will disappear even more,” says Bisan, a 29-year-old teacher from Ramallah. “My students find it hard to believe it's worth anything. And I can't tell them otherwise with complete certainty.”The vote, which took place at more than 420 locations across the territory, was used to elect municipal councils responsible for basic services – water, electricity, roads, waste collection, and building permits – but its political scope is limited: any relevant decision continues to be conditioned by Israel.The day also arrived marked by a restricted political landscape and widespread disaffection with politics. In key cities like Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, or Nablus, there was no vote because only one electoral list was presented, which was automatically declared the winner. In total, more than forty municipalities and more than a hundred villages were resolved with the same logic, and in some areas not even candidates were registered.“We don't vote thinking about big politics. We vote thinking about whether we will have electricity, whether they will fix the streets. It's very little, but it's what we have,” explains Rasha, a 38-year-old nurse. Her husband, Mohammed, adds: “People have lost faith in the parties, in the Palestinian Authority, in everything.”Most of the candidacies were linked to the Fatah movement, led by the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who has been in power for more than two decades without being re-elected in general elections. In many municipalities, candidacies close to Fatah competed with independent lists linked to other factions, such as the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.Omar, a 45-year-old shopkeeper accompanying his elderly mother, both wearing the Palestinian kufia, summarizes the sentiment of many voters: “It's like choosing between one option and the same option; we don't vote out of conviction, but out of habit. And because not doing so would be worse.”Voting in tents

In Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, the vote has had an eminently symbolic character, which the authorities themselves describe as a pilot project. This city is one of the few that has not been completely devastated by the war, despite the fact that in December 2024 an Israeli bombing destroyed the municipal building and killed the mayor and ten workers.With no capacity to deploy a conventional electoral process or even send ballots or ballot boxes normally, the Palestinian Central Electoral Commission has improvised the system with recycled materials: wooden ballot boxes and blue ink left over from a vaccination campaign. Voting has taken place in tents and open spaces. All this amidst a fragile ceasefire and new Israeli bombings.Hamas, which won the 2006 parliamentary elections in the Strip, has not officially participated in these elections, although some candidacies have been perceived as close to the group, as reported by Reuters.Beyond the election of municipal councils, the elections have been interpreted as an attempt by the Palestinian National Authority to reinforce its legitimacy in a context of growing distrust and the absence of national elections since 2006. In fact, some polls place distrust in the Palestinian Authority above 70%. Analysts point out that the Palestinian Authority has wanted to project an image of political, financial, and administrative reforms, using these local elections as a symbol. In parallel, the simultaneous holding of elections in the West Bank, in a context of expanding settlements, violence by Israeli settlers, and military control, seeks to reaffirm its institutional relevance. Nevertheless, the Authority's room for maneuver continues to be limited: it exercises partial autonomy in the West Bank, while Israel maintains effective control over a large part of the territory and resources.

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As international attention continues to be focused on tensions with Iran, the Israeli government has taken a further step in another key direction: occupation. With little media fanfare, it has approved a plan of 307 million euros to strengthen the Israeli presence in settlements in the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory that the international community continues to consider occupied by Israel.The project, planned for the period 2026-2030, aims to turn Katzrin, an Israeli settlement in the west, into "the first city of the Golan," in the words of Ze'ev Elkin, a member of the Ministry of Finance. According to various Israeli media, the plan includes investments in infrastructure, public services —such as hospitals and veterinary centers—, universities, and housing. All with a clear objective: to attract at least 3,000 Israeli families to the territory.The announcement came after a meeting in Jerusalem between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and local Golan leaders, such as Yehuda Dua and Uri Kellner. The message was unequivocal: the government not only maintains its commitment to settlements but wants to intensify it. On numerous occasions, Netanyahu has stated that the Golan will remain under Israeli control, a statement that clashes with international law. The Golan Heights have been recognized as territory occupied by Israel since 1967, after the Six-Day War, and were formally annexed in 1981."As the logic of Israel's colonial project is to obtain the land without the indigenous population, the Golan Heights are considered a successful model of expropriation and expansion, unlike the West Bank and Gaza," explains to ARA Neve Gordon, an Israeli academic specializing in politics, human rights, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a professor at Queen Mary University of London.According to him, the key lies in 1967: "The ethnic cleansing was almost complete and, as a result, there has been no sustained resistance to Israeli rule. About 130,000 Syrians fled and could not return, and only about 5,000 remained. This allowed the Golan to be integrated into both domestic law and the Israeli public imagination." The result is that, today, for a large majority of Israeli Jews —more than 90%, according to Gordon— the Golan is already part of Israel. This is a clear contrast with the West Bank, where the Palestinian presence has prevented full integration. A pattern of annexation

The expansion of settlements in the Golan is not an exception, but part of a pattern. The settlement policy deployed there presents clear parallels with what has been happening for decades in the West Bank: a combination of civilian presence and state support to consolidate control over disputed territories, always under the umbrella of security.In the West Bank, more than 700,000 Israeli settlers live today in settlements scattered throughout the territory. And the pace does not stop. In recent weeks, the government has approved 34 new settlements, in a decision that, according to the Israeli organization Peace Now, was made "secretly".Israeli media, such as Channel 24 or the newspaper Haaretz, have described the decision as the largest number of settlements ever approved in a single government session. According to this information, nine of the 34 approved settlements are existing outposts (settlements that are illegal even under Israeli law, as they are built without government authorization) which will now be retroactively legalized, while the rest have not yet been built. In total, the plan includes 20 new settlements, nine outposts, two expansions, and three nuclei that will become independent from existing settlements. Settlements and outposts vary in size, and can range from a single dwelling to multi-story building complexes.“Outposts are like settlements: an instrument of expropriation and expansion —describes Gordon—. Outposts, like settlements, are illegal under international law, but they were introduced just over two decades ago, after a US-led settlement freeze, and have ended up functioning as a tool to legitimize formal settlements: they are presented as their illegal version, when in reality both are,” he adds.The phenomenon, far from being isolated, is part of a sustained policy over time. Since 1967, settlements have been a central piece of Israeli strategy, but under Netanyahu's governments their expansion has accelerated. Israeli organizations such as ACLED or B’Tselem and analysis centers such as Chatham House warn of a simultaneous increase in settlements, land confiscations, and settler violence, especially since the start of the offensive in Gaza.Since the arrival of the current government, 103 new settlements have been approved, adding to the 127 already existing. If the legalization of outposts is added, the total in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has risen from 141 in 2022 to 210 currently, according to data cited by Al-Jazeera. In parallel, the government has allocated 119 million euros to the Ministry of Settlements and National Missions, the body responsible for authorizing these implantations.

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Violent Israeli settlers attacked several West Bank villages early Sunday morning, burning cars and houses, and beating or throwing stones at Palestinian civilians. At least twelve people were injured. The incidents occurred near the cities of Ramallah, Nablus, and Jenin, after an 18-year-old settler was killed on Saturday when his car collided with a Palestinian vehicle. Authorities are investigating whether it was a simple accident or a terrorist act. However, the settlers took justice into their own hands.

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The Bani Odeh family was driving through the streets of Tammun, in the northern West Bank, in the early hours of March 15. They were returning home after breaking their Ramadan fast when their journey turned into tragedy as Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicle. According to the account of one of the two surviving children, an eleven-year-old boy, the soldiers attacked them while shouting, "We've killed dogs." When the shooting stopped, his mother, father, and two brothers, ages five and seven, were dead.

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Nothing new is happening in the West Bank. What's new is that it's hardly being disguised anymore.

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The Israeli government approved on Sunday the reopening of the land registration process in the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967. This measure will allow the state to register Palestinian territories as "property of the State of Israel," according to the Justice Ministry and the state broadcaster Kan. This will expand Israel's control in the West Bank at the expense of the Palestinian Authority. advance towards the annexation of the territory

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This year, Christmas lights have returned to Bethlehem, the West Bank city where, according to Christian tradition, the baby Jesus was born in a manger, warmed only by straw and the heat of an ox and a donkey. These lights are meant to offer a semblance of a return to some semblance of normalcy after two years of war and genocide in Gaza perpetrated by Israel's ultra-religious and far-right government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. A large tree adorned with lights and stars stands in the middle of the city's main square, known as Manger Square, near the Church of the Nativity, which claims to be the oldest church in the world. These are attempts to attract tourists once again, and indeed, some have already ventured back to Bethlehem during this festive period. They are engaging in a type of tourism that straddles the line between religious, cultural, and even morbid or disaster-seeking tourism.

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When looking for activities that break the ice between people, no matter how culturally distant they may be, Ric Fernández (Santander, 1982) chose soccer. "Soccer can be a way to let off steam, but it's also an art, and it's very inclusive. You don't even need a ball; you can play with a bottle of Fanta between two sweatshirts. Who gives you that? The dance? Do you need the music? The drink? You need the bar, the money, the drink, the connection," explains this journalist and aid worker in a video call between the Cantabrian region of Valles Pasiegos and Barcelona, which had to be done twice because the interviewer didn't record the audio correctly on the first attempt.

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Since January, the Israeli army has occupied Jenin, having expelled its 20,000 Palestinian residents. What remains is no longer a bustling refugee camp — there are no children playing in the streets, no scent of freshly baked bread, no clatter of motorbike repair shops, no shouts from fruit sellers. The shabab — adolescents who once carried rifles and planted homemade explosives at night to fend off Israeli incursions — are gone. The camp has been converted into a military base where troops prepare for the kind of fighting experienced in Gaza.

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The fields of Al-Mughayyir, a Palestinian village of 4,000 inhabitants near Ramallah, lie devastated. Where centuries-old olive trees once stood, the soil is torn and bare. Only the remains of stumps and roots are left — trees that, as the olive harvest begins, will no longer bear fruit.

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While the attention of citizens and the media is focused in the Gaza genocideIsrael continues to consolidate its occupation and plunder of the West Bank, a part of the Palestinian state that is smaller than the province of Barcelona and has a population of more than three million Palestinians, not counting the more than 700,000 Jewish settlers living there.

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In June 2024 I published an article defending the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. More than a year has passed, and the horror in Gaza continues. I return to the topic. From two angles: the moral and the political.

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US Speaker Mike Johnson visited one of the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank this week. The Republican leader, who is only behind President Donald Trump and his vice president in his country, is the highest-ranking US figure to officially visit the occupied West Bank in history, so the trip was fraught with symbolism.

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The Israeli army's cyberwarfare unit uses Microsoft servers to store a wealth of surveillance data on Palestinians captured from the mobile phones of Palestinians, data it has used to planning deadly military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank. Microsoft has made available to the Israeli army a customized area with almost unlimited capacity within its Azure cloud, allowing the Israeli army's cyberespionage unit, Unit 8200, to build a powerful new tool for mass surveillance: a vast and intrusive system of mobile phones made daily by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is revealed in a joint investigation by the British newspaper The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew outlet Local Call.

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This Monday Israeli settler Yinon Levi shot dead Palestinian activist Odeh Hadalin in Umm al-Khair, his village in the southern occupied West Bank. The bullet pierced his lung, and he died before reaching the hospital. Hadalin, 31, had participated in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, which showed his involvement in the Palestinian struggle against the colonization of the Massafer Yatta area.

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The title's question seems little less than rhetorical. At least, if one considers the endless images and dramatic witnesses that, from October 7, 2023, They are coming from Gaza. Limitless destruction, indiscriminate bombing of the civilian population resulting in the murder of children, women, men, and the elderly; humiliation of non-combatant Hamas prisoners—there have also been scenes of humiliation of the freed Israeli hostages—who are being used as human shields, a weapon of war… Incalculable devastation; more than 53,000 Gazans have officially died, and in all likelihood thousands more. The population of the Strip will take decades to recover, if it survives at all.

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A 14-year-old Palestinian-American boy was shot dead by Israeli settlers on Sunday near the village of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank, according to the mayor of the town, Lafi Shalabi. The boy was on the street with two friends, ages 13 and 14, when the settlers opened fire on them. All three were shot.

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A 14-year-old Palestinian-American boy was shot dead by Israeli settlers on Sunday near the village of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah, in the West Bank, according to the mayor of this town, Lafi Shalabi. The boy was on the street with two friends, ages 13 and 14, when the settlers opened fire on them. All three were shot.

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For hours, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was part of a Signal group where senior U.S. government officials discussed the March 15 bombings of Houthi targets in Yemen. Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg managed to get The White House accidentally leaked its war plans to him.: National Security Advisor Mike Waltz had mistakenly added him to the chat, and no one checked who the group members were, although confidential information was shared with very specific details about US military bases. President Donald Trump has already closed ranks this Tuesday with Waltz, who is in the eye of the storm.

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