Palestinian groups express ‘grave concerns’ over Marwan Barghouti’s safety

Palestinian groups person expressed “grave concerns” astir the information of jailed governmental fig Marwan Barghouti aft his lad reported receiving a telephone astir Israeli guards allegedly torturing the fashionable person successful an Israeli prison.

Qassam Barghouti made the connection connected Facebook connected Friday, but aboriginal deleted the post, saying helium was trying to get accusation astir his father’s wellness from applicable agencies.

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In the deleted post, Qassam said helium had received a telephone from a idiosyncratic identifying themselves arsenic a Palestinian captive and who said Israeli situation guards had beaten his begetter severely, leaving him “physically shattered”.

The person, who called from an Israeli number, said that the guards had breached Barghouti’s ribs, teeth and chopped disconnected a portion of his father’s receptor for “entertainment”, according to Qassam.

He added successful a aboriginal station that helium was trying to interaction the caller but had not been capable to bash so.

A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service said successful a connection to The Times of Israel that the allegations were “another full lie” and “propaganda” against its situation staff.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, meanwhile, condemned the “new enactment of intimidation targeting” Barghouti’s family, saying it had lone further escalated their already “grave concerns” for the prisoner’s safety.

“This enactment is simply a nonstop continuation of the organised coercion argumentation implemented by the concern authorities against the families of prisoners, successful an effort to interruption their volition and psychologically blackmail them,” the society, which represents Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, said successful a connection shared connected Telegram connected Friday.

Barghouti, who has been jailed since 2002, is simply a elder person of President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah radical and is viewed by galore arsenic Palestine’s Nelson Mandela.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people, including writer Margaret Atwood and histrion Javier Bardem, signed connected to an international campaign to escaped the 66-year-old politician.

‘Retaliatory measures’

The Palestinian presidency besides condemned what it called the “continuous attacks and retaliatory measures” against Barghouti.

In a connection carried by the Wafa quality agency, the presidency said connected Friday that it held the Israeli authorities afloat liable for the Fatah leader’s information and the information of each Palestinian prisoners successful Israeli prisons.

Meanwhile, Ofer Cassif, a subordinate of Israel’s parliament from the left-wing, Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, said helium spoke to Barghouti’s household astir the telephone and the reports that “Marwan’s teeth, ribs and fingers being breached and his receptor being chopped off”.

“The household precise overmuch hopes that this is conscionable intimidation and that the accusation is not true. They are waiting to perceive from his lawyer astir his condition,” Cassif said successful a societal media station connected Friday.

“I sincerely anticipation that this is so intimidation, diabolical to accidental the least, and thing more. In immoderate case: Free Marwan!” Cassif added.

The developments came soon aft Barghouti’s household launched the global “Free Marwan” campaign calling for his merchandise earlier this week, saying that they feared helium whitethorn dice portion successful Israeli prison.

Barghouti is serving 5 beingness sentences successful Israeli prisons connected alleged charges related to attacks during the 2nd Intifada, which lasted from 2000 to 2005. He has denied the charges.

Israeli soldiers locomotion past a coating of Marwan Barghouti adjacent the Qalandiya checkpoint betwixt Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank metropolis of Ramallah [File: Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP Photo]

‘Systematic killings’

Since Israel’s genocidal warfare connected Gaza began successful October 2023, Barghouti has been denied visits from his household and subjected to brutal assaults, according to his lawyer.

In August, helium was besides taunted successful his compartment astatine Ganot Prison successful cardinal Israel by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. A video broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12 astatine the clip showed Ben-Gvir telling the captive, “You won’t win.”

It marked the archetypal sighting of Barghouti successful years, with relatives noting his “shocking” quality caused by “exhaustion and hunger”.

Palestinians person called for Barghouti to beryllium released arsenic portion of the recent ceasefire agreement betwixt Israel and Hamas, but the Israeli authorities has rejected the call.

Barghouti is regarded arsenic a apt cardinal subordinate successful the instauration of immoderate Palestinian authorities due to the fact that of his quality to unite assorted governmental factions.

As portion of the truce deal, Israel released 250 Palestinians serving beingness sentences, respective of whom were sent into exile abroad. About 1,700 Palestinians who were detained from Gaza and transferred to Israeli detention facilities during the warfare were besides freed.

One of the released prisoners, Mohammad al-Ardah, told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces would transportation retired “barbaric” raids successful the prisons each week, severely beating Palestinian detainees. “The latest reports we heard astir the large person Marwan Barghouti is that they broke 3 of his ribs,” al-Ardah said.

As of November 2025, much than 9,300 Palestinian prisoners are being held successful Israeli prisons, including 3,368 held nether administrative detention without complaint oregon trial, according to Palestinian prisoners’ rights organisations.

According to Israeli and Palestinian rights groups, astatine slightest 94 Palestinian prisoners and detainees person died successful Israeli prisons since October 2023.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), successful a study successful November, accused Israeli authorities of “systematic killings and coverups” and said less than 30 Palestinians had died successful Israeli custody successful the preceding years.

On Thursday, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said that it had confirmed that 3 much prisoners from Gaza had died successful Israeli detention.

The Palestinian captive rights organisations issued a associated connection identifying the men arsenic Taysir Saeed al-Abd Sababa (60), Khamis Shukri Mar’i Ashour (44), and Khalil Ahmad Khalil Haniyeh (35).

The organisations said Palestinian prisoners proceed to dice successful detention owed to torture, starvation, aesculapian neglect, intersexual battle and systematic violations of quality rights.