The Palestinian leader held in solitary confinement is believed to have suffered numerous injuries during the September 9 attack.
Palestinian prisoner support groups have accused Israel of “brutally assaulting” Marwan Barghouti, the most senior Palestinian detainee held by Israel, leaving him with numerous injuries.
In a joint statement issued Monday, the Commission for Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs and the Society of Palestinian Prisoners said Monday that Barghouti was attacked on September 9 while he was being held in solitary confinement in Israel’s prison. Megiddo.
As a result of the assault, Barghouti, nicknamed the “Palestinian Nelson Mandela” by his supporters, suffered numerous injuries, mainly to his upper body, according to the statement.
The Fatah politician, imprisoned for more than two decades, was injured in the head, ears, ribs, right arm and back, the statement said, citing a lawyer who was only able to gather the information. after months of arrest. prohibited from contacting prisoners.
Barghouti suffered bleeding in his right ear, which later turned into an infection due to medical negligence, the statement said.
The 64-year-old man was allegedly attacked with a group of other Palestinian detainees.
The commission said Palestinians are being held in “tragic conditions,” particularly over the past year during the war in Gaza.
Arrests intensified
Israel has increased arrests in the occupied West Bank since it launched a deadly attack on the besieged Gaza Strip in October last year. It also escalated the mistreatment of detained Palestinian prisoners.
Prisoner rights groups and the United Nations have highlighted systematic abuses against prisoners held in Israeli jails, including beatings, starvation, blocked visits and medical neglect.
In its statement, the commission said it perceived the attacks on Barghouti and other Palestinian figures in detention as an attempt to “assassinate” them.
Barghouti is extremely popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency.
He has already been the subject of at least two other attacks, according to the press release.
Barghouti was a prominent leader of the first and second Intifadas (uprisings) and was convicted by an Israeli court of five counts of murder in 2004, two years after his imprisonment.
Israel accused Barghouti of founding the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a coalition of Palestinian armed groups aligned with Fatah, in the early 2000s – which he denied – and charged him with 26 counts charges of murder and attempted murder attributed to the brigades.
He was sentenced by an Israeli court to five cumulative life sentences, plus 40 years in prison for attempted murder and membership in a “terrorist” organization.
Barghouti offered no defense, refusing to recognize the authority of the Israeli court.
According to Addameer, a Palestinian rights and prisoner support group, more than 10,000 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons, including at least 3,390 in administrative detention, a widely criticized practice in which they are held without charge or trial.