Palestinian envoy in Geneva warns of abuse and deteriorating health of Marwan Barghouti after assault by far-right Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir
Palestine on Friday appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to step in and protect Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, warning that systematic abuse and neglect are endangering lives.
Ibrahim Khraishi, Palestine’s permanent observer to the UN in Geneva, in a letter to ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, accused Israel of subjecting prisoners to torture, starvation, and prolonged solitary confinement, and singled out the deteriorating health of Marwan Barghouti, a senior leader of Fatah, the Palestinian nationalist and social democratic political party.
Khraishi said Barghouti has been subjected to years of isolation, beatings, and shackling, as well as recent threats to his life, and described the harsh treatment as a violation of international law and a form of ethnic cleansing aimed at destabilizing Palestinian political leadership.
He called for the release of the most vulnerable detainees, including the sick, elderly, women, children, and those held without charge, and condemned a violent incident this week in which Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered Barghouti's cell and threatened to kill him.
Israeli media footage showed Ben-Gvir inside Ramon Prison telling the jailed leader, “Anyone who kills our children or women, we will erase them. You will not defeat us.” Barghouti looked frail and thin in the video.
Barghouti, a central figure in the Palestinian prisoner movement, has been behind bars since 2002, serving five life terms plus 40 years over his alleged role in attacks during the second Intifada.
Prisoner advocacy groups say conditions have sharply worsened since Ben-Gvir took office in late 2022, citing cutbacks in food rations, harsher restrictions, and widespread reports of mistreatment.
Since the start of the second year of genocide in Gaza in October 2023, at least 1,014 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in an advisory opinion, urging the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
