Alwaght- With the start of the new round of talks between Hamas representatives and Israel in Egypt to strike a deal to implement the terms of the Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, the path to a possible agreement between the two sides still looks bumpy. The clash of views about the way of implementing the ceasefire, the Israeli retreat from Gaza, and prisoner swap are the most important sticking points.
While Hamas has signaled a willingness to engage with the Trump administration's proposal, it has drawn clear red lines to protect its core principles, which it deems non-negotiable. A central demand is the release of six specific Palestinian prisoners, most notably Marwan al-Barghouti, a demand the hardline cabinet of Netanyahu is not yielding to and is trying to select a list of its choice.
The issue of Barghouti's release has become a major flashpoint, provoking fierce opposition from extremist factions within Israel. Channel 14, an Israeli network, has revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a bid to placate his far-right coalition partner Itamar Ben-Gvir, who frequently threats the PM with resignation from the ruling coalition, has explicitly pledged not to free prisoners like al-Barghouti.
This hardline stance, however, is driven by more than political posturing. It stems from a profound fear within the Tel Aviv security apparatus that releasing a figure of Barghouti's stature could fundamentally reshape the political landscape and overturn the existing balance of power in the occupied territories.
Who is al-Barghouthi?
Marwan al-Barghouthi was born in 1959 in the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah. He entered the struggle against the Israeli occupation as a teenager and later joined the Fatah movement. During the 1980s, Israeli security forces arrested him multiple times. Following his releases, he emerged as a leading figure in the First Intifada.
In 2002, Israeli forces captured him in a special operation in Ramallah. A subsequent court case, which Palestinians and many international observers decried as a show trial, resulted in five life sentences for al-Barghouti. From his prison cell, he has since become a potent symbol of resilience, unity, and hope for the Palestinian people.
Beyond his organizational skills, al-Barghouthi is recognized as a rare leader who commands significant respect across the Palestinian political spectrum, including from the rival Hamas faction. His broad popularity among diverse Palestinian groups and social strata has established him as a leading contender for future Palestinian leadership. In a December 2023 poll, al-Barghouthi outperformed all other potential candidates, securing the highest level of public support.
Why is Israel opposed to his release?
Israeli leaders' primary reason for refusing to release al-Barghouthi stems from a profound fear of his potential to reshape the Palestinian and regional political landscape. History has shown Tel Aviv that freeing charismatic leaders can fundamentally upset its security calculations.
A stark precedent is Yahya Sinwar. After years in Israeli prisons, he was released in a prisoner swap deal only to mastermind the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm years later—the most significant military and psychological blow in the regime's history. Israeli officials have repeatedly called Sinwar's release a strategic mistake that must not be repeated.
In the eyes of the occupation officials, al-Barghouthi possesses the same latent potential to become a "second Sinwar." They fear his political experience and popular legitimacy could galvanize a broader, more unified movement against the occupation. Unlike many of his peers, al-Barghouthi is seen as a figure who could consolidate resistance efforts not just militarily, but politically.
The Netanyahu government is acutely aware that al-Barghouthi has managed to build bridges across different Palestinian factions and even with international bodies. For many Palestinians, he embodies a "unity of resistance," capable of healing the Hamas-Fatah rift to create a unified front against the Israeli occupation.
Such unity is nightmarish to Tel Aviv, a regime whose existence has long relied on Palestinian division. Tel Aviv knows that if al-Barghouthi walks free, it would lose its ability to exploit internal Palestinian conflicts to advance its divide-and-rule policies.
The fear in Tel Aviv of releasing prominent Palestinian leaders is so profound that it has dictated the terms of recent ceasefire negotiations. While Israel agreed to free some Hamas and Fatah leaders serving life sentences, it imposed a critical condition: they are barred from returning to Gaza or the West Bank and must be exiled to countries like Turkey or Egypt. This policy of exile is a deliberate attempt to drain the Palestinian territories of inspiring leadership and prevent the reorganization of resistance.
Furthermore, the recent Israeli military strike in Qatar, aimed at assassinating Hamas leaders, is part of this broader strategy to cripple the resistance movement by eliminating its most charismatic figures. Against this backdrop, it is clear that for Netanyahu and his allies, freeing a figure of al-Barghouthi's stature is perceived as an existential threat.
Netanyahu's cabinet, dominated by far-right factions, is not merely seeking to disarm Palestinian groups but has defined its ultimate goal as the complete destruction of the resistance's infrastructure. From Netanyahu's perspective, any flexibility towards Hamas's demands, including the release of high-profile prisoners, would be seen as a strategic retreat and an incentive for resistance groups to continue their pro-liberation struggle.
Following the Gaza war and its devastating impact on the Israeli military, Israeli security officials have concluded that senior Palestinian commanders must not be released at any cost. This security-driven mindset has now been formalized as part of Tel Aviv's official doctrine.
Beyond immediate security concerns, many analysts see deeper political and propaganda motives behind Tel Aviv's refusal to free al-Barghouthi. Netanyahu, facing profound domestic political crises and widespread public protests, is relying on a hardline stance against the Palestinians to maintain the support of his far-right coalition base. He is well aware that showing flexibility on al-Barghouthi's release would be seized upon by his political rivals as a sign of weakness, further destabilizing his tenuous hold on power.
From another aspect, the Israeli regime aims to use al-Barghouthi's continued imprisonment as a strategic bargaining chip for future negotiations. By keeping such a high-value figure behind bars, they retain a powerful lever to be exploited in future political deals.
Finally, it seems that as long as Netanyahu and the far-right hold the power, the chance of al-Barghouthi's release is slim, but as the history of Palestine has shown, the will of the nations cannot be chained forever. Though now behind the bar, al-Barghouthi has a message and thought that goes beyond the walls of prison and penetrates the minds and hearts of millions of Palestinians. Actually, his thoughts will soon or late transform into the biggest threat to the Israeli existence.
