Israel isolates Barghouti in solitary confinement

The Israeli authority Wednesday informed the jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti of its decision to isolate him in solitary confinement for an undetermined period, according to Issa Qaraqi, Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs. This decision was made responding to high- level Israeli officials’ request, under the pretext of ‘Marwan’s latest statements’, in which he called for massive rallies to support the Palestinian move, Qaraqi told Palestinian news agency “WAFA” that . He considered the decision to be illegal and dangerous, which could lead to escalations of protests in prisons. Marwan Barghouti, who is a member of Fatah Central Council and the Legislative Council, was arrested in 2002 and two years later was sentenced to five life terms for his role in several deadly anti-Israeli attacks, although he denied all the charges against him and said he never supported attacks on civilians inside Israel. But even from his prison cell, Barghouti has remained an important Palestinian political figure.