‘Every effort’ being made to free arch-terrorist Barghouti, says PA official

Palestinian Authority deputy leader Hussein al-Sheikh said on Saturday that every effort was being made to secure the release from Israeli prison of terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving multiple life sentences for the murder of five Israelis and other crimes.

The statement came during a visit with other Palestinian officials to the home of Barghouti’s family, with al-Sheikh adding that the former head of the Tanzim terrorist group “represents a symbol of the Palestinian struggle” and that all Palestinian detainees inside Israel should be freed, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded on Saturday to criticism of his visit on Thursday to Barghouti’s high-security prison cell, where video shows him confronting the terrorist.

“I hear the left’s whining, ‘This angers Hamas,’ about Barghouti’s pictures, the despicable murderer they want as the next ‘Palestinian’ leader. I want to tell them: For years, you sold us illusions that if we just appease Hamas, don’t provoke it, give it money, workers, and free movement of goods, it will become sweet and harmless, and the world will love us... Those days are over,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X along with a screenshot of the confrontation.

“In the Middle East, results are achieved only through deterrence, not fantasies. The era of leisurely stays in Israeli prisons is finished. There’s a landlord now, and he’s not a sucker,” Ben-Gvir continued.

Standing alongside Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi at the Gilboa Prison, Ben-Gvir told Barghouti in Hebrew: “You will not defeat us. Anyone who harms the people of Israel, anyone who murders our children and women—we will wipe them out. You need to know this. It has been this way throughout history.”

Barghouti, 66, one of the most notorious figures of the Second Intifada, was arrested and convicted in 2002 for orchestrating a series of terrorist attacks against Israelis. In 2004, he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 additional years.

Although Barghouti’s name has periodically surfaced in connection with proposed prisoner-exchange deals, successive Israeli governments have rejected his release, citing the risk that he could reignite large-scale violence. Israel Prison Service officials describe him as a “ticking time bomb” whose freedom could trigger a third intifada.

Barghouti has spent more than two decades in jail, and images of him during his incarceration are rare. Thursday’s meeting offered the first glimpse of the imprisoned terrorist in more than a decade, as well as a reminder from Israel’s National Security Minister that the state remains resolute in its desire to keep him behind bars.