TEL AVIV, 17 Oct. - (ANA) - Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti was beaten unconscious by Israeli prison guards during a transfer between prisons last month, according to his son and multiple Palestinian prisoner organisations.

 

The Palestinian Asra Media Office (AMO) reported that the 66-year-old "lost consciousness and suffered fractures in four ribs" after being attacked by a special prison unit during his transfer from Rimon Prison to Megiddo Prison in mid-September.

 

The AMO accused Israeli prison forces of a "deliberate act of brutality" aimed at humiliating one of Palestine’s most prominent political figures.

 

Barghouti's son, Arab Barghouti, told reporters that his father is facing assassination threats after being assaulted by eight guards while being moved between prisons on 14 September.

 

"They are trying to assassinate him in prison - and nothing will stop them except pressure," he said.

 

"They beat him by kicking, throwing him to the ground and punching him in the head, chest and legs. He later told fellow prisoners he lost consciousness as a result of the attack. When he arrived in Megiddo, he could barely walk for days."

 

 

 

 

Arab said five recently released Palestinian detainees had heard his father recount the assault after arriving at Megiddo. He added that this was the fourth time his father had been beaten in the past two years.

 

The latest reported assault followed an August visit to Barghouti's cell by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was previously convicted of incitement to racism and support for terrorism. In footage from that visit, Ben-Gvir was seen taunting the Palestinian leader.

 

Arab said the minister had later shown his father "a picture of an electric chair" and told him he deserved execution.

 

Ben-Gvir denied the assault allegations but said he was "proud" that conditions for Palestinian prisoners had worsened under his tenure, adding: "The murderer Barghouti knows that terrorists like him are treated harshly today, so he invents fake news."

 

As part of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal, 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences were released this week, most of them deported to Egypt. Israel’s government, however, vetoed Barghouti’s inclusion on the list.

 

Barghouti is a prominent Palestinian political leader, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the Fatah movement and one of the most popular leaders among Palestinians today

 

In 2002, during the Second Intifada, Israel arrested Barghouti, accusing him of orchestrating attacks through the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Fatah-affiliated armed group. He was convicted in an Israeli military court in 2004 of directing lethal attacks against Israelis and sentenced to five life terms plus 40 years.

 

"My father represents the voice of reason. He believes in peace and a two-state solution that could bring stability to the region. By refusing to release him, Israel has shown it does not want a credible or legitimate Palestinian leader; it wants us to remain divided," Arab said.   - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/17 October 2025 - - -