Marwan Barghouti transferred to solitary confinement over West Bank uprising fears

Palestinian leader and high profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti has been transferred to solitary confinement by Israel on Wednesday over fears he is coordinating an uprising in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated Barghouti was moved from Ofer prison to solitary confinement following information about a planned uprising.

This is not the first instance of Israel rushing to transfer Fatah leader Barghouti amid soaring tensions in the occupied West Bank following near daily raids and arrests by Israeli forces in towns and cities.

Early Thursday, the Israeli military stormed Tulkarm, Beitunia, Shu'fat refugee camp, and Nablus. On Wednesday, Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, shot and killed a young man and injured ten others with live bullets and tear gas, as reported by The New Arab’s sister paper, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed

In recent weeks, Barghouti has returned to the fore amid speculation that the popular and enigmatic leader could be one of the prisoners released under the ongoing Hamas-Israel truce talks.

Since 2002, he has been imprisoned, receiving five life sentences for leading Fatah’s militant faction, Tanzim, during the First and Second Intifadas (uprisings) against Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. 

Israel considers the leader one of their most high-profile detainees and, as such, regularly transfers him to higher security jails where is subjected to harsh conditions.

As the most high-profile prisoner held by Israel, Marwan Barghouti could play a crucial future role in Palestinian politics. @DarioSabaghi explains how 👇 https://t.co/J0KNAzho7n

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) February 13, 2024

Despite his imprisonment, Barghouti has remained influential among Palestinian politics and has been suggested as a potential successor to current president 88-year-old Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, if he were to be freed. 

In a December poll from the Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research, an independent think tank based in Ramallah, Barghouti received higher backing than Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip if they were to vote for a new president today.

Israel has arrested more than 7,000 Palestinians across the West Bank since October 7, including in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Salfit and Jerusalem, according to figures from the Palestinian Prisoners Society.