Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent Palestinian prisoner held in Israeli jails, has been subjected to three violent assaults in the space of a month, his lawyer has said, raising fears for the 66-year-old's life on the 24th anniversary of his arrest. His legal representative, Ben Marmarelli, visited Barghouti in prison on Sunday and described a "clear pattern of escalating abuse: violence, medical neglect, and treatment that places him at immediate risk." The Israeli Prison Service denied the allegations, saying they were "false and baseless" and that it was "not aware of any incidents as described."

According to Marmarelli, on 24 March prison guards at Megiddo Prison — a detention facility in northern Israel — entered Barghouti's cell with a dog and forced him to the floor, where the animal repeatedly attacked him. The following day he was beaten during a transfer to Ganot Prison in central Israel. On 8 April, guards at Ganot severely beat him, left him bleeding for more than two hours, and denied his requests for medical treatment. These incidents follow an attack last September in which, according to his family, Barghouti suffered four broken ribs and head injuries. He is understood to have been held in solitary confinement for the past two-and-a-half years, and family visits remain barred.

Barghouti, a senior leader of the Fatah political movement, was arrested in 2002 at the height of the second intifada — a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation — and convicted of involvement in attacks that killed Israeli civilians. He is serving five life sentences plus 40 years. His trial was criticised as flawed by legal experts, and the late South African president Nelson Mandela, who himself spent 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime, drew a direct parallel between his own case and Barghouti's. Despite his imprisonment, opinion polls consistently show Barghouti to be the most popular Palestinian leader, respected across rival factions for his calls for unity and his past engagement with Israeli officials in support of a two-state solution.

The reported assaults are occurring against a broader backdrop of documented mistreatment of Palestinian detainees. Since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Gaza war, UN agencies, Israeli human rights groups and the United Nations Committee against Torture have reported widespread abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including beatings, sexual violence, starvation and medical neglect. Dozens of Palestinians are reported to have died in detention. Israel's Supreme Court ruled last September that prisons were failing to provide adequate food for Palestinian inmates and ordered improvements. There are currently around 9,560 Palestinians held as security prisoners in Israeli jails, including more than 3,500 in administrative detention without trial or charge.

Barghouti's son, Arab Barghouti, said he was "shocked and appalled" by the latest attacks and argued his father was being singled out because of his symbolic importance to the Palestinian cause. On the anniversary of his father's arrest, international figures including actors Cate Blanchett and Don Cheadle added their names to a campaign calling for his release. "Artists and musicians were critical in the movement to free Mandela and end apartheid in South Africa, and I hope they can play a similar role for Marwan and Palestine," Arab Barghouti said. His father's lawyer was unequivocal: "While Marwan is held in an Israeli jail there can be no way to guarantee his safety."