Israeli jailers assaulted Marwan Barghouti three times in a month, lawyer says
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Mera Aladam
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Wed, 04/15/2026 - 07:27
Campaign for Barghouti’s release decries 'brutal attacks', as lawyer warns of a 'pattern of escalating abuse'
People protest for Marwan Barghouti and other prisoners in the Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on 4 April, 2026 (AFP/Eyad Baba)
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Israeli prison guards have violently assaulted Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti three times over the past month, according to his lawyer.
A campaign calling for Barghouti’s release on Tuesday described the incidents as “brutal attacks”. It said they took place while he was in solitary confinement in Megiddo and Ramon prisons, in northern and southern Israel respectively.
Barghouti was tortured “using various tools of repression and beatings, causing multiple injuries and bleeding across his body without medical treatment,” the campaign said.
It added that the prominent political figure has faced a “systematic series” of attacks that have continued since the start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza.
Israeli human rights lawyer Ben Marmarelli, who said he visited Barghouti on Sunday, detailed the alleged abuse in a post on X, describing the situation as “deeply alarming”.
He said that on 24 March, prison guards entered Barghouti’s cell with a dog, forced him to the ground, and set the dog on him repeatedly.
Barghouti was also assaulted during his transfer from Megiddo to Ganot prison the following day.
'These are not isolated incidents. They form a clear pattern of escalating abuse'
- Ben Marmarelli, Human rights lawyer
On 8 April, he was severely beaten in Ganot and left bleeding for more than two hours. A subsequent request for medical treatment was denied.
"These are not isolated incidents. They form a clear pattern of escalating abuse: violence, medical neglect, and treatment that places him at immediate risk," Marmarelli said.
He added that his most recent legal visit took place “under absurd conditions”, with the two forced to shout through glass to hear each other because prison phones were not working.
"This is what a legal visit looks like today: basic conditions denied, communication obstructed, and even the most elementary human and professional standards ignored."
According to Marmarelli, despite the conditions, Barghouti remained mentally sharp and engaged with events outside prison.
"He had a great deal to say. Above all, he wanted to know more about his family and the Palestinian people, What is happening in Palestinian and Israeli scene I tried to tell him everything I know."
Prominent figure
Barghouti, a senior figure in Fatah, has been imprisoned since 2004.
Israel targeted him for his leading role in the 2000–2005 Second Intifada.
He is serving five life sentences plus 40 years after being convicted over attacks that killed five Israelis. Barghouti refused to mount a defence during his trial, saying he did not recognise the court’s legitimacy.
Opinion polls have consistently suggested that Barghouti would win the Palestinian presidency if elections were held and he were permitted to run.
He is widely viewed as one of the few remaining unifying Palestinian leaders, despite Fatah’s deep association with the unpopular Palestinian Authority.
The 66-year-old has long been held in solitary confinement and has faced intensified assaults alongside other prominent Palestinian detainees since October 2023.
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