Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti appeared in a video for the first time in many years as Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened him inside his cell.
The undated video shows the far-right minister entering the solitary confinement section of an Israeli prison, confronting a visibly frail Barghouti who is dressed in a plain white T-shirt.
Surrounded by guards and cameras, he says: “You will not defeat us. Whoever targets the people of Israel and kills our sons and women will be erased. You must know this.”
The short video has provoked outrage. Hussein Al Sheikh, Vice President of Palestine and deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Executive Committee, called the incident “the height of psychological, moral and physical terrorism” against Palestinian prisoners and a breach of international conventions.
Mr Al Sheikh said the move reflected “unprecedented recklessness” in Israel’s treatment of detainees and called for urgent intervention by international organisations to protect them.
Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, said she barely recognised her husband. “I didn’t recognise you or your features, but you remain free despite everything," she wrote on Facebook. Barghouti‘s appearance has shocked supporters, as he appears markedly older and frail.
"They are still, Marwan, chasing you and pursuing you even in the solitary cell you’ve been living in for two years, and the struggle of the occupation and its figures with you continues," she said.
"The shackles are on your hands, but I know your spirit and determination, and I know you will remain free, free, free,” she said.
“I know that the only thing that can shake you is what you hear about your people’s pain, and the only thing that crushes and wounds you is the failure to protect our sons and daughters. You are of the people, wherever you are among the people, you are one of them and part of them.”
The video emerged amid Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks, which in past iterations have included the possible release of Barghouti, the most senior and popular Palestinian prisoner, referred to by supporters as the “Palestinian Nelson Mandela".
Barghouti, 66, began confronting the Israeli occupation from an early age, joining Fatah at the age of 15. He was deported by Israel in 1987 and only allowed to return to Palestine in 1993 after the Oslo Accords. As head of Tanzim, Fatah’s armed wing, he played a prominent role in the Second Intifada, which began in the year 2000. He became one of Israel’s most wanted men and, in 2002, he was arrested.
In May 2004, Barghouti was convicted of five murders and sentenced to five life terms, charges he has consistently denied.
He has been active from prison, calling for Palestinian unity. He speaks Hebrew and has often called for dialogue to end the occupation of Palestine.
Ibrahim Khreisheh, Palestine's representative to international bodies in Geneva, described Mr Ben-Gvir's visit as a "serious crime" in a letter to the president of the Red Cross.
The letter urged the Red Cross to help "safeguard the lives of Palestinian detainees, who are subjected to torture, starvation, and ill-treatment in Israeli occupation detention cells", Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
