Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip, 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009, resulted in the killing of over 1,400 Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of whom (82%) were civilians. At least 5,300 Palestinians were also injured, and public and private property throughout the Gaza Strip was extensively targeted and destroyed. Investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and numerous other organisations, including the UN Board of Inquiry, the Independent Fact Finding Mission mandated by the League of Arab States, and the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (the Goldstone Mission), concluded that Israel committed numerous violations of international law, many of which give rise to individual criminal responsibility.

The text that follows is from the newsletter (No 68) issued by MP Andrew Slaughter (Labour Party) that summarizes his meeting with Dr Mustafa Barghouti (founder in 1979, of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees). With other MPs from the Britain-Palestine Group I met Dr Mustafa Barghouhi on Monday. Dr Barghouthi is a member of the Palestinian Parliament not affiliated to Hamas or Fatah, and was runner-up to Mahmoud Abbas in the 2005 presidential Election. He’s recently appeared on The Daily Show and Hardtalk and is one of the most erudite and effective Palestinian politicians. Here’s what he told us.