A winding down of operations in Gaza has allowed Israel to turn its attention to the West Bank, with devastating effects

It has been just over six weeks since a ceasefire came into effect in Gaza, and it’s clear that it would more accurately be called a “reduce” fire, rather than a cessation. Scores of people are still being killed; enough, in any other scenario, to be deemed both alarming and newsworthy. More than 100 people have died since 19 January, Gaza’s civil defence service spokesperson says. Those killings constitute, alongside other breaches, a grim record of hundreds of reported ceasefire violations by the Israeli government.

The latest among them is Israeli authorities’ decision to halt humanitarian aid into Gaza, in order to put pressure on Hamas to accept new ceasefire terms: mere hours after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, Israel cut off all supplies. In doing so, Israel is using food and civilian relief as a political tool to achieve its objectives, a move that the Qatari foreign ministry, the midwife of hostage releases and ceasefire agreements over the past few months, called “a clear violation” of the terms of the truce and of international humanitarian law.

Soca veterans join forces with Afrobeats stars as the diaspora strengthens ties with the motherland. Plus, Angela Davis heads to London

Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. In our launch edition, I wrote about how one of the things I missed in the media landscape was the ability to simply meet others across the Black diaspora. In the months since, this newsletter has been that place for me, but never more so than this week, when I spoke to Natricia Duncan, our Caribbean correspondent, about this year’s carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.