Israel refuses to release ’Palestinian Mandela”

However, an Israeli government spokesman later said there were no plans to free him at “this point in time” – seemingly leaving the door open for a future release.

Palestinian prisoners convicted of far deadlier attacks have been freed in previous large-scale exchanges, but Israel has consistently refused to release Barghouti.

Once a leading member of the Palestinian peace camp, Barghouti later turned towards political violence, leading stone-throwing protests against Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank during the second intifada, a popular uprising between 2000 and 2005.

Israeli authorities allege he helped establish Fatah’s armed wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which – fearful of being outflanked by its more violent and popular Hamas rival – began sending suicide bombers to attack civilians in Israel.

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Charged with involvement in 37 attacks, Barghouti was acquitted on most counts. The court, however, ruled that while he was not directly involved operationally, he had commanded and financed four attacks that killed five people.

Clenching his hands above his head as he entered the courtroom, Barghouti insisted he was a “fighter for peace for both peoples” during a trial that cemented his status as a hero to many Palestinians.

Opinion polls suggest that were he to stand for the Palestinian presidency, he would win more votes than his two nearest challengers combined.

Hamas officials are said to favour his release because he is so feared by the Fatah hierarchy, and because he could help to negotiate the group’s survival, now in question after two years of war with Israel.

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Israeli officials are thought to be reluctant to free him for different reasons.

Hardliners fear a leader who could reunite the Palestinians would revive the push for a two-state solution.

Others in the security establishment worry that two decades in prison – coupled with particularly harsh treatment since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 – may have radicalised him, raising the risk that Israel could be releasing a man capable of leading a united but violent resistance against the Jewish state.