Gaza Herald – The family of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti said he has been subjected to extreme, life-threatening torture inside Israeli prisons, after a recently released detainee reported that Israeli guards “shattered his body,” breaking his ribs, teeth, and fingers, and cutting part of his ear.
His son, Qassam Barghouti, described the family’s anguish: “What do we do? Who do we speak to? We live this nightmare every single day.”
The revelations came as a rapidly expanding global campaign demands Barghouti’s immediate release. Backed by civil society groups in the UK, the initiative aims to place his case at the center of political and diplomatic discussions surrounding the next phase of the ceasefire process.
A major report by The Guardian highlighted a public letter signed by more than 200 prominent international cultural figures, including Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Mark Ruffalo, Sting, Paul Simon, Brian Eno, Annie Lennox, Ai Weiwei, and Richard Branson, all calling for Barghouti’s freedom. Many view him as the most unifying Palestinian political figure capable of leading a future national project.
Barghouti, now 66, has spent 23 years in the Israeli occupation prisons after a trial widely denounced as illegitimate and politically motivated. Despite his captivity, he remains one of the most popular Palestinian leaders, consistently topping public opinion polls as the preferred figure to guide the Palestinian struggle forward.
As torture testimonies multiply and international pressure intensifies, all eyes are now on whether global powers will act to end the suffering of one of the most influential and widely respected figures in the Palestinian liberation movement.
