The Gaza Flotilla sails again. Several boats set sail this Friday from Crete after a week ago about twenty ships were assaulted by Israel in international waters. The civil humanitarian mission thus resumes its course to Gaza. The next stop will be Turkey, where it will make a technical stop and more boats will join. It is expected that a total of more than 30 ships will sail.

An Israeli court has extended until Sunday the detention of the two leaders of the Global Flotilla Sumud, the Catalan-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek and the Brazilian Thiago Ávila, who have been in a prison facility since they were captured in international waters in Wednesday's assault on the civilian humanitarian mission against the Gaza blockade. The court in the coastal city of Ashkelon, where they are being held, ruled on Sunday that the prosecution had two more days to present the formal indictment. The Israeli government accuses them of terrorism, and they are detained in Shikma prison, on a hunger strike for the seventh day.

Israel has intercepted some of the humanitarian aid ships that are part of the Sumud Flotilla heading to Gaza. This was reported by Israeli radio, citing military sources, and confirmed by the Global Sumud Flotilla through a statement in which they assure that speedboats identified as the Israeli army have stopped their ships. According to their account, they pointed their lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons at the crew members and ordered them to position themselves at the front of the boats and get on all fours.

The Flotilla activists detained by Israel will disembark in Greece soon. This was announced by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, who assured in a message on X that "the individuals transferred from the flotilla boats to the Israeli ship will disembark on a Greek beach in the coming hours", in coordination with the Greek authorities. "Israel will not allow the legal naval blockade on Gaza to be broken", the text concludes.

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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The Brazilian Thiago Ávila (1986) is one of the coordinators of the Global Sumud Flotilla, the new international flotilla that seeks to break the blockade of Gaza and the largest yet. Ávila, an activist and political analyst, was part of a previous flotilla, which was intercepted last year. The mission plans to mobilize more than eighty vessels and more than 1,000 participants from about a hundred countries. It sets sail from Barcelona in an even more dangerous context of regional war and will be accompanied, up to the exclusion zone imposed by Israel, by the ships of Open Arms and Greenpeace. Its objective: to reactivate international mobilization in support of the Palestinian people. After the farewell events this weekend at Moll de la Fusta, 41 vessels will set sail from Barcelona in the coming days bound for Gaza, when weather conditions permit. In Sicily, more boats from France and Italy will join, and more vessels will be added along the rest of the route through the Mediterranean.

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Who determines what is true? In the era of fake news, manipulated algorithms, and post-truth, a group of architects, journalists, engineers, and lawyers work together, putting technology at the service of facts. They call it forensic architecture and they dedicate themselves to reconstructing disputed events, from demonstrations to military attacks around the world. Since 2023, they have focused on Gaza, and their reports are used as evidence in South Africa's accusation against Israel at the International Court of Justice. We speak with Júlia Nueno, a researcher at Forensic Architecture, based in London, and editor of Genocides. A Forensic Reading (Galaxia Gutenberg).

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The attack, yet another in a war that seems to have no end, was not in the south or in the Shiite outlying neighborhoods of Beirut. It took place in Hazmieh, a residential area far from the usual front lines. It is the second attack in this Christian area in the east of the city, and it struck a building housing displaced families. According to local authorities, the man targeted in the bombing had arrived just an hour earlier. He was not listed as a tenant. One person was killed.

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While international headlines focus on the war between the United States and Israel against Iran, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is rapidly deteriorating. The closure of the Rafah crossing, soaring food prices, and the expulsion of international staff from major NGOs paint a picture reminiscent of the worst moments of the siege.

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As of Sunday, no international staff from the main NGOs remain in the Gaza Strip. Israel has ordered them to leave. after withdrawing the license from 37 organizations Organizations—from Doctors Without Borders to Oxfam, World Vision, and the Danish Refugee Council—that were working to alleviate the horrific humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave. The pretext? Their refusal to hand over to Benjamin Netanyahu's government a list of their Palestinian staff to protect him from reprisals.

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HeOpen Arms, The flagship vessel of the Badalona-based humanitarian organization, which has saved more than 73,000 people in the Mediterranean, joins the Global Sumud Flotilla. which will set sail from Barcelona on April 12th with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. It will be one of a hundred vessels bringing supplies and personnel for the healthcare system and the reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave after more than two years of Israeli genocide. Specifically, the humanitarian rescue ship will carry medical personnel and supplies.

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The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, is one of the voices that have most forcefully denounced the genocide in GazaHis reports have served to highlight not only the atrocities committed in recent years in the Gaza Strip, but also the complicity of third countries and companies that profit from the situation in the Middle East. He publishes When the world sleeps (Galaxia Gutenberg), a journey through 10 conversations that move between intimate and political discourse, and attempt to answer key questions about impunity, resistance, war, and peace.

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Monday, on Telenotícies migdia, Anna Garnatxe and Xavi Coral reminded us of the four-month truce in Gaza, even though Israel continues to deny access to journalists. They reported that despite this context of a supposed ceasefire, attacks have continued and caused over six hundred deaths. They specified that many of them had been killed when crossing the border, now called the “yellow line”. This introduction served to announce that TV3's correspondent in Jerusalem, Jordi Brescó, had been able to enter Gaza in the only way possible: with a convoy organized and controlled by the Israeli army. “The images have value, but they have imposed many limitations, even though Israel presents it as a great opportunity for journalists.” This preliminary was necessary to warn that the operation had more of a propagandistic intention than a journalistic one.In Brescó's report, recorded last Thursday, the correspondent himself indicated it right at the beginning, calling the route with the Israeli convoy “a journalism performance within the forbidden territory.” A very accurate definition, because when the profession loses its essence but its forms are maintained, it is nothing more than a staging: a group of accredited journalists as such and with vests that highlight their status as "Press" but without the possibility of working independently. Brescó defined it as “circumstances very far from those necessary to do good journalism.” He explained that Israel attributed this to security reasons. The journalist insisted that this was “a kind of guided tour”: “We have no freedom of movement nor can we speak with Gazans,” he said.In the images, we saw how the journalists boarded the truck, crossed the gates that mark the area on the route, and arrived at a control point on the yellow line. Brescó showed us how the border was monitored, which warned of the prohibition of passage for Palestinians. Brescó interviewed the army spokesperson, who assured that all those who cross the line are given “all the opportunities in the world to turn back.” The journalist then recalled that 120 people had been shot in that area: “People, including children, who crossed the line without realizing it.” Brescó showed what the yellow line looked like, the lack of clarity of the limit, and how, curiously, on the day of the “guided tour,” the markings were better visible. In fact, they seemed to have been recently placed as part of the operation.The report on Telenotícies had a completely opposite meaning to what the Israeli army might have intended: rather than allowing access to Gaza and appearing to have supposed transparency, the visit demonstrated Israel's control over information and territory. It is very good to see it, if only to understand the context of other news coming from the area and to keep in mind the bias that is intended to be imposed on the narrative and how it is executed.

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When Donald Trump sealed the ceasefire in Gaza, he proclaimed the advent of a "golden age" for the Middle East, a promise of prosperity and peace that was supposed to transform the regionBut the reality on the ground is quite different: four months after the agreement, there have been only 17 days without Israeli attacks against the civilian population. The army has not only failed to withdraw, but is actually advancing along the "yellow line" that demarcates the territory of the Gaza Strip under Israeli control. Meanwhile, leaders and investors are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of turning Gaza, under Donald Trump's lifetime presidency, into a real estate development hub.

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Donald Trump's plan for the future of the Gaza Strip, agreed between the United States and Israel and approved by the UN Security Council, It establishes the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) in the Palestinian territory until 2027The objective, according to the agreement, is for this military force to provide "support to the verified Palestinian police in Gaza" and contribute to "securing the border areas." Until now, no party had specified which countries would form the FIE, nor how many soldiers each state would contribute. But this Tuesday, Indonesia began to shed some light on the matter: the Asian country estimates it could contribute up to 8,000 soldiers, and asserts that a total of approximately 20,000 troops will be deployed along the Gaza Strip. However, there is still no signed public document. Indonesian presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi explained that the exact number of troops has not yet been discussed, and that the figures presented by the government on Tuesday are approximations. "We are preparing in case an agreement is reached and we need to send peacekeeping forces," Hadi stated. These preparations, according to Chief of Staff Maruli Simanjuntak, would be military training exercises for the troops the country is prepared to send to Gaza.

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In Gaza, the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing, the only point connecting the Strip to the rest of the world outside of Israel, has not revived daily life. It has simply reorganized the waiting. In the south, where the border has become a constant point of reference—though it remains almost deserted—the economy is operating at a bare minimum, with constantly changing lists and decisions postponed day after day. What's available has remained virtually unchanged for weeks, with no regular influx or predictable schedule. In this context, daily decisions no longer depend so much on what actually arrives as on rumors and warnings about the crossing: occasional permits, last-minute closures, announcements that never materialize.

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On its second day of partial reopening, the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has confirmed that the reopening, for now, does not imply a substantial change in mobility from the Strip. After a first day focused almost entirely on technical tests and list verificationThis Monday, the crossing began operating effectively, albeit at a very slow pace and with extremely limited reach.

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Almost four months after the ceasefireThe landscape of the Gaza Strip remains one of almost complete destruction from north to south and east to west. Despite daily promises of reconstruction, the reality on the ground is quite different, and so far no one has lifted a finger to provide stable housing for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have lost everything.

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The Rafah border crossing partially reopened yesterday after more than a year and a half of near-total closure, in a pilot operation marked by strict restrictions and a backdrop of persistent violence in the Gaza Strip. The reopening, presented by Israel and international mediators as progress toward implementing the ceasefire agreed upon for the end of 2025, is strictly limited in scope and does not alter the overall control that Israel maintains over the Palestinian territory. The operation was conceived as a trial phase to verify security, identification, and coordination systems before authorizing a regular flow of people. According to official sources and local media, the crossing operated solely for logistical testing and document checks, without yet enabling the actual passage of travelers. Rafah remains under the joint supervision of Egyptian authorities, representatives of the European Union, and COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for coordinating civil affairs in the Palestinian territories. The review of pre-authorized lists became the central focus of this first day. Rafah is not just a border crossing; it symbolizes the degree of control Israel maintains over Gaza. Access to medical treatment outside the enclave, educational opportunities, and family reunification processes depend on its operation. The pilot operation demonstrates that, despite the ceasefire, the Gaza Strip remains isolated and dependent on external decisions, a reminder that the normalization of civilian mobility is still a long way off. Several international reports indicate that the movement of people could begin more clearly from today, with preliminary estimates of up to 150 departures from Gaza and around 50 returns per day, always under strict and reviewable conditions. These figures, however, remain projections and depend on the outcome of the technical evaluation of this initial phase, which reinforces the experimental nature of the reopening.

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