Israeli Prison Staff Accused of Brutally Assaulting Palestinian Leader Marwan Barghouti

Palestinian prisoner rights organisations have claimed that prominent Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has been assaulted in his solitary confinement cell in Megiddo prison. The incident happened on September 9, according to the Palestinian Maan News Agency, following the first lawyer’s visit to Barghouti in three months. The former Fatah’s senior party member and now the multiple life-sentence convict has been diagnosed with fractured ribs, the right ear, and arm, and chronic backache.

Prison Conditions and Legal Reaction

The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has strongly refuted the allegation saying that every complaint that Barghouti made in the past was investigated by the court. In its statement to AFP, the IPS said that an investigation was conducted of two petitions filed by Barghouti since October 7 on claims of mistreatment; the court ruled there had been no infringements of the law. Still, Palestinian NGOs note that this is the second attack on Barghouti since he was put in solitary confinement in the first half of 2015.

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Local Palestinian groups have indicated that conditions in the prison has worsened with over nine thousand Palestinians currently in Israeli detention facilities. Over 60% of these detentions took place after the October 7 attacks to Hamas, and the prison population had risen dramatically. It is still unclear how many Palestinians from Gaza have been detained by Israeli forces within the territory since the start of the war.

Possible Participation in Peace Making

Barghouti, now in his 60s, could become an important actor if new negotiations were to take place. His name has appeared as the potential candidate for release in any hostage prisoner swap deal with Hamas and Israel. At the moment the Palestinian militants are holding 97 hostage in gaza, while 34 have been reported dead according to israeli military intelligence.