"The Gaza genocide is the best-documented genocide in history."

BarcelonaRaji Sourani doesn't speak of war. The director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights maintains that what is happening in Gaza is "the best-documented genocide in history." He said this in Barcelona, ​​in a conversation organized by CIDOB with the University of Barcelona, ​​where he dismantled the idea of ​​a ceasefire in effect and that the Gaza Strip is moving toward peace, as Donald Trump claims.

"The only difference is that the rate of killing has slowed," asserts the veteran human rights lawyer. From hundreds of deaths a day during the most intense periods, he says, the number has dropped to fifteen or twenty. "The genocide has not stopped, neither in practice nor in theory." For him, the issue is not only how many people die, but also the conditions under which the rest are condemned to live. Gaza is being deliberately transformed into an uninhabitable territory: 90% of homes destroyed or unusable, mass displacement, no electricity, no running water or sanitation, streets razed, a healthcare system operating at less than 10% capacity, and a collapsed education system. "Genocide is killing and creating an environment in which it is impossible to live," he summarizes. "In Gaza, the basic conditions for life have been eliminated." In this context, he warns that Israel maintains "absolute" control over security, borders, and the movement of people and goods, with the ability to enter "wherever and whenever it wants." He exemplifies this with Monday's military operations in the heart of Gaza to locate the remains of the last hostage kidnapped there, which resulted in the exhumation of 200 Palestinian bodies from one of the city's old cemeteries: "This demonstrates that the occupation not only continues but is intensifying."

Following the ceasefire signed last October under the auspices of Donald Trump, there is no longer widespread famine, but there is a population of 2.3 million people in a situation of total dependence on NGOs: "There is food in the markets, but 90% of the people have no income." It is a sustained pressure for the population to leave: "Israel imposes all the necessary conditions to force people to leave." For someone who has dedicated his entire life to defending international law, it is not easy to accept that Gaza is always an exception. He recalls that in January 2024, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid and that in July it declared Israeli employment illegal. "What has changed? Nothing substantial." For Sourani, this demonstrates the breakdown of the system born after the Second World War: rules without enforcement and crimes without consequences. "We Palestinians didn't invent Nuremberg, the Genocide Convention, or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's the best thing humanity has ever produced. And now it's not being applied." And this goes far beyond Gaza and Palestine. What's being imposed, he says, is "the law of the jungle."

Sourani didn't expect anything good from the United States ("It was the Americans who invented the right to self-determination, but it seems that for the Palestinians it's just a piece of paper"), but he is disappointed with Europe's role. "It's a disgrace that European leaders invoke Israel's right to defend itself. Since when does an illegal occupation have the right to defend itself?" He recalls that Palestinian organizations have been demanding the activation of Clause 2 for decades, which conditions the validity of the association agreement with Israel on respect for human rights. "The agreement remains intact, with academic and scientific cooperation, while everything is being destroyed in Gaza." He also confesses that he expects nothing from the Arab regimes.

The Trump Plan

He also denounces the fact that the future of the Gaza Strip is being decided without the Palestinians, with the Trump Plan, which proposes him as "president of Gaza for life" with a governing council without Palestinians, and with Blair, Putin, and Netanyahu. "We don't even know what the plan entails. Every time I read it, I understand it less." The result, he says, is clear: "We have no say in our future, neither legally nor in practice." However, he declares himself "optimistic by definition." He argues that the Palestinian cause is based on a fundamental principle of international law: self-determination. "We don't have any special genetic makeup, but we do have extensive experience in employment that has created great resilience." He illustrates this with the population's reaction to the evacuation orders: when the Israeli army advanced on Rafah, many displaced people did not go south but north, to even more devastated areas. "It's almost impossible to live in Gaza, but people don't want to leave." He describes the "chemistry" of Gaza: "It's not that Palestinians are genetically different; it's that we've learned to resist collectively for 20 years." The future, he admits, is "very dark and bloody." But he sets an immediate priority, without diplomacy: "First, stop the killing and destruction. So that people can simply stay in their homes." If they succeed, he says, the Palestinians will continue to resist, as they have until now. If they are driven from their land, it will be another story.