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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Israeli army killed at least 32 people in Gaza on Saturday, despite the ceasefire in place since October, according to medical and civil defense sources in the Palestinian enclave. Today is one of the deadliest days. since the truce came into effectAnd now nearly 530 Gazans have been killed since then.

Israel says it will partially reopen the Rafah border crossing this Sunday, allowing passage between Egypt and Gaza "in both directions, with limited traffic," the Israeli government agency COGAT, which coordinates civilian operations in Gaza, said Friday. This border crossing is the only entry and exit point from Gaza outside of Israel for nearly all of the more than 2 million people who live there.

The Israeli army has accepted as a reference the estimate from the Hamas-governed Gaza Health Ministry, which puts the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, at approximately 71,700, reports the Israeli newspaper. HaaretzAccording to military sources, the figure only counts deaths from direct military attacks: it does not include missing persons who may still be buried under the rubble, nor deaths caused by hunger, cold, the spread of curable diseases, and the destruction of the Gaza Strip's entire healthcare system. Until now, Israel had denied these figures, dismissing them as Islamist war propaganda, although international organizations and independent expert estimates supported them.

Raji Sourani doesn't speak of war. The director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights maintains that what is happening in Gaza is "the best-documented genocide in history." He said this in Barcelona, ​​in a conversation organized by CIDOB with the University of Barcelona, ​​where he dismantled the idea of ​​a ceasefire in effect and that the Gaza Strip is moving toward peace, as Donald Trump claims.

Twenty-seven months after the Palestinian attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel has recovered the remains of the last of the 255 hostages taken since that day in the Gaza Strip. The army announced this in a statement on Monday at noon, after a two-day search operation in the northern part of the enclave.

For the first time since the start of the war in Gaza, the term "post-war" is beginning to appear in diplomatic circles. The announcement by Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, that the ceasefire agreement Entering the second phase, focused on the complete demilitarization of the enclave and comprehensive reconstruction, marks a turning point. It also reflects the state of what has been achieved so far.