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.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is organizing a new mission to the Gaza Strip this spring. As announced this Thursday at a press conference in South Africa, the mission will consist of 3,000 participants from approximately 100 different nationalities and 100 ships, which will carry humanitarian aid and specialized personnel—medical workers, war crimes investigators, and engineers—to the Palestinians in an attempt to break the Israeli siege. They anticipate the flotilla will depart from the port of Barcelona on March 29th, with additional vessels joining along the way. In parallel, they have also announced a land convoy, carrying equipment and specialists, which will attempt to reach the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.

Last week, the arrest of the crew of the flotilla arriving in Gaza with humanitarian aid from the Israeli government was the spark that lit all the fires. All over Europe, where there had been demonstrations of rejection of the genocide committed by the Netanyahu government for weeks, people took to the streets following the impulse that arises within each of them, and this is how large collective demonstrations usually arise.

The Israeli government deported another 171 activists from the Global Summit Flotilla on Monday, including Swedish youth Greta Thunberg, on planes to Greece and Slovakia. It denied that they had suffered any abuse in custody, as some of the prisoners had alleged. "This genocide is being fueled by our governments and our institutions. It is our responsibility to end this complicity. We are not heroes; what we have done is the bare minimum," Thunberg said from Athens airport. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has stated that this group of "provocateurs" includes citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The Swedish activist, one of the Flotilla's most well-known faces, arrived at Athens airport on Monday afternoon surrounded by displays of support.

Former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau and Barcelona councilor Jordi Coronas are now home. After spending more than a month aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla. and being detained by IsraelBoth arrived at Barcelona airport on Sunday night, where friends, family, and party colleagues greeted them with applause and hugs. Wearing white T-shirts and gray sweatpants, the same set of clothes they were forced to wear when they entered prison, they both explained to the media what they experienced from the moment they were arrested at gunpoint on the ship and, hours later, arrived at the port. "They made us kneel for hours, with our heads on the ground, and they booed, insulted, and humiliated us," Colau explained. Coronas denounced the "psychological torture" to which they were subjected, with deprivation of water, food, medicine, and sleep—they weren't allowed more than two hours at a time. "They told us that doctors were for people, and that we were animals," she explained.

Demonstration yesterday afternoon in Barcelona, in support of those detained by the Israeli army during the Flotilla. And as in Barcelona, ​​the protests spread to other Catalan cities and dozens of European cities.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, one of the most radical members of Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, has called the Global Sumud Flotilla activists "terrorists" and "defenders of murderers." In a video posted on social media, Ben Gvir is seen booing the activists, who are sitting on the ground, and pointing his finger at them. "Here are the terrorists of the Flotilla, they are terrorists," the minister says.

Thousands of people—15,000 according to the Guardia Urbana (Urban Guard)—protested this Thursday afternoon in Barcelona, but each did so in their own way. While a group of protesters clashed with riot police blocking their way to the Ronda Litoral and others did the same at the entrance to Terminal S of the port, a few meters away, a group of people stretched a white cloth that stretched about ten meters. "I don't know what it's for, but they asked me for help," said one of them. Behind them, four tents were beginning to operate as a welcome point for a camp that the organizers aim to maintain at least until the demonstration called for Saturday morning begins.

The Israeli military assault on the peaceful and humanitarian flotilla that set sail from Barcelona to denounce the plight of Gaza is not a final point. It is a continuation. As long as the genocide in the Strip continues unabated, citizen pressure cannot cease, no matter how far the distance between the indignation and shame in the streets and the harsh global geopolitical reality remains. If it were still possible, the flotilla has made even more evident the collapse of multilateral diplomacy and, more specifically, the impotence of the UN and the lukewarmness of Europe. Instead of a civilian flotilla, a military force—Blue Helmets—should have been sent to Gaza long ago to make a ceasefire possible, to guarantee minimum survival conditions for the Palestinian population, and to facilitate negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostages and the disarmament of Hamas.

Of the more than 500 activists from 44 countries that make up the Global Sumud Flotilla, intercepted by Israel as it approached GazaThere are up to fifty who have Spanish nationality. And of these, fifteen are Catalan. Most confirmed that they were traveling aboard ships attacked in international waters by Israeli soldiers and are currently detained incommunicado.

The detention of the Global Sumud Flotilla in the waters of what the Israeli government calls the exclusion zone is, on the one hand, confirmation of what everyone knew was going to happen, as Eugeni Garcia Gascón's article in this newspaper explains well. But at the same time, it is an important episode that reveals, highlights, and underscores a series of facts: one, the Israeli government continues to block the arrival of humanitarian aid, even from a peaceful initiative (the Flotilla has rightly emphasized that it is completely unarmed) of civil society. Two, the Israeli government continues to resort to the use and abuse of force against anyone who dares to disagree with its war of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and Palestine. Three, as a result of the above, it is indisputable that the Israeli government continues to violate human rights and international law. Four, given this situation, the silence and passivity of the international community, genuflecting before the threats and arbitrary actions of Donald Trump's government, is alarming and even dangerous (and in this context, and although paradoxical, the withdrawal of Italian and Spanish military support vessels makes sense, as a way to avoid harm).

Parliament has been split in two following the Israeli army's detention of the flotilla heading toward Gaza to break the humanitarian blockade. The PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), ERC (Republican Workers' Party), Comuns (Comuns), and CUP (Cup) have forced the suspension of the plenary session scheduled for this Thursday in protest, while Junts (Junts), PP (People's Party), Vox (Vox), and Aliança (Aliança) have voted against calling it off. The left argues that the suspension is justified because Israel's actions have been in international waters and because a member of the chamber, Pilar Castillejo (Cup member), is traveling, but the right criticizes it. Junts (Junts) criticizes the fact that no plenary session has been suspended so far due to the conflict and is being held in favor of the flotilla, and the PP considers the initiative to be "media theater." President Salvador Illa, speaking from Rome, has already explained that the government has provided "legal support" to the flotilla members, although they are currently being held incommunicado, according to the initiative's organizers. Meanwhile, Isabel Díaz Ayuso has accused the Flotilla activists of "not wanting peace."

The Flotilla has confirmed this morning that The Italian Navy has intercepted 19 of the 44 ships that made up the fleet..

HeThe Israeli army has finally managed to intercept the 44 ships that formed the Global Sumud Flotilla, the solidarity initiative attempting to open a humanitarian corridor in Gaza. It took nearly 18 hours to complete their assault and deactivate the humanitarian mission, ever since the first Israeli military ships stormed the flotilla at seven o'clock on Wednesday evening when it was 80 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, in international waters. Just after midday on Thursday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement assuring that the flotilla's "provocation" "has ended," implying that all the boats had been stopped. Minutes earlier, flotilla sources said that only four boats were still sailing towards Gaza, but it was finally confirmed that they had been intercepted by Israel. Only one small boat remained, the Marinette, which had been delayed and which Israel warned would also be intercepted if it continued to approach. This Friday morning, Marinette, with six people on board, was already 43 nautical miles from the coast and still moving forward.

Crucial hours for The Global Sumud Flotilla, which entered the dangerous zone early this morning, where Israel could attack—as has already happened—ships seeking to break the blockade and bring humanitarian aid into Gaza. Early Wednesday, the Flotilla reported an "intimidation operation" against its ships by Israeli naval forces during the night. "One of our main ships, Soul"was aggressively surrounded for several minutes by an Israeli warship. During the incident, onboard communications were remotely disabled as the vessel approached dangerously, forcing the captain to take a sharp evasive maneuver to avoid a head-on collision," the GSF denounced in a statement.

The ship Family, where the former mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​Ada Colau, and other activists leading the Global Sumud Flotilla were traveling on their way to Gaza, has suffered technical problems that prevented it from continuing. However, the crew of the vessel have been relocated to other ships in the flotilla so that the mission can continue. In fact, this Friday the Flotilla set sail from Crete to begin its last leg towards Gaza, where they intend to break the Israeli blockade to try to bring in humanitarian aid.

A Spanish military vessel will set sail this Thursday from Cartagena "equipped with all the necessary resources in case it is necessary to assist the Flotilla and carry out any rescues." This was announced by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez at a press conference in New York, where he participated in the United Nations General Assembly. "Spain demands that the right of our citizens to navigate the Mediterranean in safe conditions be respected," he stressed, on the day the organization denounced a new attack against the humanitarian initiative. "This vessel aims to ensure that in the event of any difficulty, nationals and members of the flotilla can be rescued, and to protect them from a political and diplomatic point of view," said the head of the Spanish government.

The Global Sumud Flotilla accuses Israel of the attacks against two of its flagships anchored in Tunisia after setting sail from Barcelona. Using flight logs, the investigation documents the movements of four Israeli aircraft—two transporting drones and two surveillance aircraft—that allegedly carried the unmanned aircraft to military bases in Malta and Sicily. The drones then flew autonomously over the Mediterranean to drop two incendiary charges on both ships in the early hours of September 9 and 10, which caused fires on the bows of the Family and Alma vessels. The crew members were able to extinguish the fires, and there were no injuries. If confirmed, this would be an attack against civilians on the territory of a third country (Tunisia) and against Portugal and the United Kingdom, given the flags flown by the two vessels attacked. The investigation questions the official explanation given by the Tunisian authorities and the Spanish government, which treated the fires as an accident.

Israel didn't wait 24 hours after bombing the Qatari capital to attack the Yemeni capital. Its aircraft launched an attack on the Yemeni Defense Ministry in Sana'a on Wednesday and other residential areas in the city, in retaliation for the Houthi drone attack on Ramon International Airport in southern Israel. At least 35 people were killed and 131 others were injured in the wave of attacks in Sana'a and the Al Jawf region, according to data from the Yemeni Ministry of Health.

With 48 hours to go until the Diada, the state of the world, especially the Israeli massacre in Gaza, dominates the news. This morning, The Flotilla has reported a drone attack on one of its main vessels, docked in Tunisia.This is the moment. The alleged attack caused a fire, but no one was harmed.