Smoke plumes billow during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 12, 2023. Ibrahim Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Gaza “will not lead to peace,” a Palestinian Parliament member said Thursday, as he called for a ceasefire to stem the deepening humanitarian crisis in the densely populated enclave.
Speaking to CNN’s John Vause, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, president of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), a political party headquartered in the West Bank, said the “dehumanization of all Palestinians will also not solve the problem.”
“Besieging a whole population is not a solution. Striking on children and women by terrible airstrike is not a solution,” he said.
Barghouti also called for the “immediate” exchange of Palestinian prisoners in order to free Israelis held hostage by Hamas.
An “immediate two-state solution” is the best hope to achieve lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he added.
“There is no way that Palestinians will give up their struggle for freedom,” Barghouti said.
“Either we have a two-state solution as soon as possible, or we will have to be together with equality, but Palestinians have to be treated equally. And that means full democratic, civil, and national rights for both people.”
