Marwan Barghouti beaten by Israeli guards, prison group says

Palestinian leader was supposed to be released as part of ceasefire deal

Senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti makes the victory sign as her arrives to testify in a trial at a Jerusalem court in 2012. AP

Marwan Barghouti, the most senior and popular Palestinian jailed by Israel, suffered multiple broken ribs after he was beaten in prison last month by Israeli guards, the Palestinian prisoners' society has said.

The former Fatah leader was reportedly beaten while being transferred between detention facilities in mid-September. “He lost consciousness and suffered fractures in four ribs as a result of the beating,” the statement said.

Barghouti was among the names requested by Hamas to be released from Israeli jail as part of a ceasefire deal that saw an exchange of captives between the group and Israel. However, his name was not among the hundreds released by Israel.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the Israel Prison Service, on Wednesday night denied the reports but said he was "proud that Barghouti's conditions changed drastically".

His son, Arab Barghouti, said he had heard from five of the Palestinian prisoners deported to Egypt this week of the violent treatment his father had been subjected to, The Guardian reported. He said it was the fourth time his father had been beaten over the past two years.

The alleged beating came after a visit paid by Mr Ben-Gvir to Barghouti.

In August, Barghouti appeared in a video for the first time in years as Mr 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 white T-shirt.

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.

Many Palestinians view him as a potential successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. As part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, about 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences were released, with most of them deported to Egypt. Hamas had pressed for Barghouti to be among those released and said it was still working with mediators to push Israel.