Gaza Herald — Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has been caught on video delivering a direct and aggressive threat to Marwan Barghouti, one of the most influential Palestinian political leaders and the most well-known prisoner held by Israel.
The footage, circulated widely on social media late Thursday, shows Ben Gvir standing inside a high-security Israeli prison, addressing Barghouti in a confrontational tone. His words were chilling: “Whoever messes with the people of Israel, whoever murders our children, whoever murders our women, we will obliterate them. You will not defeat us.”
For Palestinians, the video was shocking not only because of the minister’s words but because it was the first public sighting of Barghouti in years. Now 66 years old, visibly aged, gaunt, and dressed in a simple white undershirt, Barghouti looked almost unrecognizable from the dynamic figure who once drew crowds with his speeches. His appearance served as a stark reminder of the physical and psychological toll of more than two decades in Israeli captivity.
Barghouti has been imprisoned since 2004, serving five life sentences plus 40 years after being convicted by an Israeli court for attacks that killed five people. He refused to mount a legal defense, rejecting the court’s authority as part of an occupying power. As a senior figure in Fatah, the movement dominating the Palestinian Authority (PA), he played a leading role during the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005, which made him a key target for Israel. His popularity among Palestinians, however, has only grown over time, making him a political figure of immense symbolic weight.
Family Warns of an Assassination Threat
Following the release of the footage, Barghouti’s son, Qassem, spoke to Middle East Eye, expressing deep concern for his father’s safety. “This is not an isolated incident,” Qassem explained. “For the past two years, there has been a systematic approach to threaten and assault him. The first physical attack happened at the beginning of the war and caused serious injuries.”
Qassem said the new footage confirms that the danger is both immediate and deliberate. “When the National Security Minister of Israel, the highest authority overseeing prisons, personally issues such a threat, it means there is a real risk of assassination inside his cell,” he said. He further accused Israel of using the mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners as part of its wider campaign of genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s Policy of Harsh Prison Conditions
Israeli media reported that Ben Gvir’s visit to Tel Aviv’s Gannot Prison was accompanied by prisons service commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, with the official purpose being to “closely monitor the worsening of the imprisoned terrorists’ conditions.” This language, human rights groups say, reflects Ben Gvir’s long-stated political agenda: to strip Palestinian prisoners of basic rights, intensify punitive measures, and use prison conditions as a tool of political pressure.
Barghouti has spent much of his detention in solitary confinement, enduring conditions rights advocates have described as inhumane. In September 2024, prison officers launched a violent assault against him, causing head injuries, damage to his ears and ribs, and wounds to his right arm and back. According to his family, this attack was part of a pattern of escalating abuse since October 2023, when Israel launched its devastating war on Gaza.
A Leader with Unmatched Popularity
Despite his imprisonment, Barghouti is widely regarded as the most popular potential leader among Palestinians. Opinion polls over the years have consistently shown that if presidential elections were held, he would win by a decisive margin. His ability to unite different political factions even while belonging to the Fatah movement, which is often criticized for its collaboration with Israel through the PA, makes him a unique figure in Palestinian politics.
It is precisely this influence, analysts suggest, that makes him a political threat to both Israel and to certain leaders within the PA. Some senior PA officials reportedly fear that Barghouti’s release could challenge Mahmoud Abbas’s hold on power.
International Mediation for His Release
In January, it was reported that Egypt, Qatar, and Hamas had been using “all means available” to secure Barghouti’s release as part of negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange. His name reportedly topped the list of Palestinian detainees to be traded for Israeli captives taken during the Hamas-led operation of October 7, 2023.
Diplomatic sources revealed that Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief, Major General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, personally intervened in these efforts. However, sources also claimed that senior PA officials lobbied to exclude Barghouti from the deal, fearing the political ramifications of his return to public life.
Palestinian Response to Ben Gvir’s Threat
The release of the video has provoked anger among Palestinians and Barghouti’s supporters worldwide. Awni Almashni, a former Fatah parliamentary candidate allied with Barghouti, dismissed Ben Gvir’s display as political theater aimed at humiliating the Palestinian people.
“Ben Gvir thinks he is insulting our people,” Almashni said, “but Palestinians, and all those who admire Marwan, are proud of his legendary steadfastness, his moral clarity, and his refusal to yield to the occupation’s cruelty. The will for freedom that Marwan represents will never be broken by tyranny, injustice, or arrogance.”
Escalating Repression Inside Israeli Prisons
Since October 2023, when Israel’s war on Gaza began, Palestinian detainees have faced an unprecedented wave of repression. Human rights groups have documented mass arrests across the West Bank, severe restrictions on family visits, the denial of medical care, and the confiscation of personal belongings. Ben Gvir, a hardline settler leader with a history of incitement against Palestinians, has openly stated that worsening conditions for prisoners is one of his top political goals.
For Barghouti, the stakes are uniquely high. His status as a unifying national leader makes him both a symbol of resistance and a target for political elimination. With the Israeli minister responsible for prisons now on record issuing a direct threat to his life, his supporters fear that Israel may attempt to remove him permanently, not through law, but through violence.
The latest footage of Ben Gvir confronting Barghouti has further intensified Palestinian anger and international concern over Israel’s treatment of political prisoners. For many, Barghouti’s resilience has come to symbolise the broader Palestinian struggle for liberation. At the same time, the threats against his life underscore the dangerous climate of vengeance fostered by Israel’s far-right leadership. As Gaza continues to endure unrelenting bombardment and West Bank detainees face harsher conditions, the targeting of Barghouti serves as a stark reminder that Israel’s campaign of oppression extends far beyond the battlefield, reaching deep into its prison cells to crush any figure capable of uniting and inspiring Palestinian resistance.
