According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 34,904 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7. A further 78,514 Palestinians have been injured, and UNRWA estimates that 1.7 million are internally displaced. With such a high number of lives lost and people on the brink of starvation, Gaza is experiencing unprecedented suffering. The Israeli government’s military offensive has continued with its plans in the Strip since October 2023, while in the West Bank Israeli settlers have increased widespread violence against Palestinian citizens, both of which are contrary to international humanitarian law.

The streets and university campuses of major European and US cities are also a reflection of civil society’s opposition to the massacre of Palestinian lives. South Africa is at the forefront of efforts before the International Court of Justice in The Hague and has recently filed a fourth application against Israel’s actions in Gaza. However, there have been very insufficient and timid reactions by the most important governments in the international community. Within this context, what strategies can be proposed to cope with the inability to rein in Israel’s current government and its lack of accountability?

Well-known Palestinian doctor and politician Mustafa Barghouti will be interviewed by journalist Olga Rodríguez. They will discuss the importance and urgency of implementing a military embargo on Israel and other measures to end the Palestinian genocide.

The event will also be shown live on our YouTube channel.

Mustafa Barghouti is Secretary General and co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), also known as al-Mubadara. A doctor by profession, he has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) since 2006 and the Palestinian Central Council (PCC). In 2007, he was Minister of Information in the Palestinian unity government. He ran for the presidency in the 2005 presidential elections, coming second to Mahmoud Abbas. Barghouti has worked extensively to defend human rights and internal democracy, and is the founder and president of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS).

Olga Rodríguez is a Spanish journalist, researcher and writer specializing in international news, the Middle East and human rights. She has spent her career at the radio station Cadena SER, at the networks Cuatro and CNN+ and at elDiario.es, a digital newspaper of which she is a co-founder. She has authored books which include El hombre mojado no teme la lluvia. Voces de Oriente Medio (The Wet Man Doesn’t Fear Rain: Middle Eastern voices, Debate, 2009) and Yo muero hoy. Las revueltas árabes (I Die Today: Arab uprisings, Debate, 2012), as well as others.