Palestinian Official Visits Barghouti in Jail to Avoid ‘Surprises’ in Elections

A Palestinian artist finishes a portrait of jailed Palestinian Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on a cement barrier near the Israeli-controlled Qalandia checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. (AFP)
A Palestinian artist finishes a portrait of jailed Palestinian Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on a cement barrier near the Israeli-controlled Qalandia checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. (AFP)
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Palestinian Official Visits Barghouti in Jail to Avoid ‘Surprises’ in Elections

A Palestinian artist finishes a portrait of jailed Palestinian Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on a cement barrier near the Israeli-controlled Qalandia checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. (AFP)
A Palestinian artist finishes a portrait of jailed Palestinian Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on a cement barrier near the Israeli-controlled Qalandia checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. (AFP)

A Palestinian official who is close to President Mahmoud Abbas paid a visit to jailed Marwan al-Barghouti, a prominent Fatah leader detained by Israel, to discuss the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Minister of Civilian Affairs and member of the Fatah Central Committee, Hussein al-Sheikh was granted permission by Israel to visit Barghouti.

Israeli media said the approval was exceptional given the current security and health conditions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

It reported that Sheikh was seeking to persuade Barghouti against running in the presidential polls, set for July, amid statements from his associates that he was bidding for the presidency.

Should he run, he would face off against Abbas, who is reportedly vying for reelection. The president has yet to declare his nomination.

Barghouti, himself, has yet to announce his candidacy. He had previously bid for the presidency in 2005, running against Abbas, before withdrawing from the race.

His associates confirmed that he was determined to run again this year, viewing himself as a “rightful” candidate, or because it is his only way out of jail.

He is currently serving a life sentence after Israel convicted him of planning deadly attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada.

In theory, no one in Fatah could pose a challenge to Abbas, except Barghouti, who is widely popular in the movement, especially among the youth.

Barghouti, 61, hails from the village of Kobar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002, serving five life sentences, for leading Fatah’s military wing and killing Israelis during the Second Intifada that erupted in 2000.

Fatah is seeking to reach an agreement with Barghouti on all aspects of the elections, in acknowledgement of his influence.

Officials within Fatah believe that electing a detainee held by Israel is not at all practical, regardless of his stature. To that end, it is expected that the movement would offer Barghouti to lead its electoral list in the parliamentary elections or perhaps even help in selecting its candidates in exchange for abandoning his presidential ambitions.



UN: Lifelines Keeping People Alive in Gaza Are Collapsing

21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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UN: Lifelines Keeping People Alive in Gaza Are Collapsing

21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is appalled by an accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza "where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing," his spokesperson said on Monday.

"He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

"Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations."

Israeli ground troops for the first time Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors.

Deir al-Balah is the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war, leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers of hostages there. The main group representing hostages’ families said it was “shocked and alarmed” by the incursion, which was confirmed by an Israeli military official, and demanded answers from Israeli leaders.

Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in ongoing ceasefire talks.

The UN food agency, meanwhile, accused Israeli forces of firing on a crowd of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid over the weekend. Gaza's Health Ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on aid-seekers in the war that has driven the territory to the brink of famine.