TV News LIES

In April, a new flotilla set off for Gaza, once again attempting to break the Israeli siege. Late Thursday, Israeli forces intercepted 22 vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla. More than 170 participants were detained before being taken to the Greek island of Crete. Two participants were taken to Israel for questioning.

Journalist Noa Avishag Schnall covered last year’s flotilla for Drop Site, before it was illegally boarded in international waters, all participants were abducted by Israeli forces, and Noa was abused in Israeli detention. On board the Conscience, she met German journalist Anna Liedtke. Liedtke, too, was abducted by Israeli forces and raped by female guards during her time in Israeli custody, abuse she first made public in December 2025 via the women’s organization ZORA.

The brutal treatment came despite—or, perhaps, because of—the fact that Liedtke is from Germany, a country unapologetically supportive of Israel no matter what it does to Palestinians or even to Germans, and Schnall is American and Jewish, a fluent Hebrew speaker of Yemeni descent who had renounced her Israeli citizenship. The detention of those aboard the Conscience straddled negotiations over the so-called ceasefire, likely also contributing to the increasingly violent mood of the Israeli guards.

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The bomb struck the busy market area of al-Nafaq Street in broad daylight.

Along that same street, three-year-old Yahya al-Malahi was leaving a relative's home with his father, dressed in new clothes for a wedding they were about to attend. They had been visiting to help prepare for the celebration. Moments later, a missile targeted a nearby police vehicle. Yahya was killed instantly.

The bombing stands as yet another reminder that the United States, once seen as a beacon of hope and humanity, is today one of the most untrustworthy nations on earth. Fn the aftermath of the attack, dust-covered vendors emerged from the smoke, scrambling to salvage what they could of their goods. Others ran towards the wounded, pulling bodies, some lifeless and others still breathing, from the wreckage. Nearby taxis screeched to a halt as passengers, many of them women, fled in panic.

It was a scene of chaos and terror, laying bare the total devaluation of Palestinian lives and echoing what the United Nations High Commissioner has described as "continuing disregard for Palestinian lives, enabled by sweeping impunity".

The people who live, walk and work along al-Nafaq, like the two million Palestinians confined to Gaza's concentration camp, have been subjected to countless, relentless attacks by the Israeli air force. This persists despite the ceasefire entered into last October, underscoring how little it has altered the conditions of daily life.

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The United States has criticised its allies for failing to stop a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that was raided and seized by Israeli naval forces earlier this week.

US Department of State spokesperson Tommy Pigott on Thursday described the flotilla as a “baseless, counterproductive stunt”.

He said Washington expects allies to "take decisive action", including denying port access, docking, departure and refuelling to vessels involved in the mission.

"This flotilla circumvents mechanisms designed to ensure humanitarian assistance is received by civilians," Pigott said in a statement.

"The United States will explore using available tools to impose consequences on those who provide support to this pro-Hamas flotilla and supports our allies’ legal actions against."

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Six transgender Idahoans filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the state’s new bathroom law, which civil rights experts say is the most restrictive in the nation.

The law, which is set to go into effect in July, carries criminal penalties for people if they enter a bathroom or locker room that does not align with their sex assigned at birth in both government-owned buildings and private businesses.

Anyone who “knowingly” enters such a bathroom could face a year in jail for a misdemeanor first offense, or up to five years in prison for a felony second offense.

Idaho’s bathroom law is the “most punitive and broadest sweeping law in the country,” said Paul Carlos Southwick, the legal director for the ACLU of Idaho. So far, it is the only state to criminalize transgender people’s bathroom usage in private businesses.

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According to the Global Sumud Flotilla aid mission, at least 15 boats were raided, with those on board “abducted” by Israeli forces and unaccounted for.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats were in Israeli custody.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said various vessels were “systematically disabled” after being raided, leaving activists stranded at sea.

“After smashing engines and destroying navigation arrays, the military retreated - intentionally leaving hundreds of civilians stranded on powerless, broken vessels directly in the path of a massive approaching storm,” it said.

Shortly before the raid, activists said they were approached by military speedboats identifying themselves as Israeli. Soldiers reportedly pointed lasers and semi-automatic weapons at those on board, ordering them to get on their hands and knees. They added that boat communications were being jammed.

“No state has the right to claim, police, or occupy international waters. Yet, that is exactly what Israel has done, extending its regime of control outward, occupying the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Europe."

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After hours spent carefully preparing her cakes, Abrar Abdu stood stunned in silence before her oven. 

In her small, darkened workshop in Gaza City, the only light came from her phone’s torch, illuminating more than 27 ruined cakes - the result of a sudden power cut and a faulty oven.

Abdu, 34, who runs a small cake business in the Palestinian enclave, was forced to apologise to customers after failing to deliver their orders, refund every payment and absorb the full cost of the wasted ingredients.

“I have incurred devastating financial losses due to the chronic instability of the electricity generators,” she told Middle East Eye.

The losses have pushed her to the brink, she added, threatening not only her liveLike Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, Abdu has struggled to secure a reliable electricity supply since Israel severed all power lines to the strip at the start of the genocide in 2023. 

The territory’s sole power plant shut down on 11 October that year after running out of fuel amid the blockade on energy supplies.

'If the current situation persists, Gaza will sink into total darkness'
- Mustafa Abu Hassira, association of generator in Gaza

Since then, Gaza has been plunged into near-total darkness, with residents relying on limited solar power or costly private generators.

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