A jailed Palestinian terrorist serving a life sentence for five murders is said to be at the top of Hamas' list for exchanging prisoners for Israeli hostages.
Marwan Barghouti, a veteran West Bank leader who was jailed for murder in 2002, is known to his supporters as “Palestinian Nelson Mandela” and is seen as key to a ceasefire in Gaza.
However, the Israeli government has not yet agreed to his release or confirmed that it is now inevitable, although many negotiators believed it was imminent.
In a statement on Barghouti's behalf, he called for support for Hamas in the current war, something his wife denies. According to his family, he was then mistreated in prison, placed in solitary confinement and kept in the dark for days while loud music was played.
Israeli prison authorities did not comment on the specific allegations, but said they were “strictly following rules and procedures.”
Marwan Barghouti, a veteran West Bank leader who was jailed in 2002, is known to his supporters as “Palestinian Nelson Mandela” and is seen as key to a ceasefire in Gaza
In a statement on Barghouti's behalf, he called for support for Hamas in the current war, something his wife denies
Arab Barghouti, Marwan's son, told the Times: “My father never made big promises about building roads, schools or the best buildings.” He is simply someone from the Palestinian street who has made the decision to devote his life to the struggle to the Palestinian cause.”
Israelis view Barghouti as the man who abandoned the peace process to lead the second intifada, or uprising.
In 2000, the Second Intifada saw bus stops, restaurants and nightclubs bombed by suicide bombers as militants battled the Israeli army, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis.
Barghouti offered no defense in his murder trial following those attacks, making his political role in them unclear.
He was a certified top leader of Fatah, the largest secular political faction in the Palestinian territories, and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and he led and justified both intifadas.
The first uprising was far less violent and consisted largely of strikes and protests.
Fatah and Hamas say the second intifada was necessary because of the failure of the peace process.
Israel accused Barghouti and other Palestinian leaders of being personally responsible for some of the hundreds of Israeli civilian deaths.
Barghouti's chief of staff, Ahmed Ghuneim, said the former leader had always opposed attacks on civilians and claimed other factions and individual fighters had acted independently.
Arab says the reason his father is so popular is because he rarely appeals to the various wings of Palestinian popular opinion and represents the traditional and secular wing of the Palestinian cause.
He has accepted the existence of an Israeli state and is politically aligned with Western demands for a two-state solution, as evidenced by his acceptance of the peace process and the Oslo Accords concluded between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister were negotiated. Yitzhak Rabin.
However, he was granted legitimacy in the resistance due to his role in the Second Intifada as leader of Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
His long stay in prison means he has avoided the stigma attached to the 88-year-old President Abbas, who is accused of corruption in the territory's day-to-day administration and compromising with Israel for little in return.
An opinion poll conducted among Palestinians showed that Barghouti would receive 47 percent of the vote in a presidential election, compared with 43 percent for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, whose reputation has risen since the start of the war, while Abbas received just 7 percent.
Barghouti was a certified top leader of Fatah, the largest secular political faction in the Palestinian territories, and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and he led and justified both intifadas
According to Ghuneim, Barghouti's appeal to the West Bank and Gaza Strip is the reason why Israel is afraid of his release.
Recent reports indicate that Hamas was close to responding to a ceasefire offer that included a phased exchange of prisoners for hostages over a six-week period.
The United States and its allies in the Arab world want an agreement to be followed by negotiations on a new government in Gaza, preferably without Hamas.
Few diplomats believe that Abbas can bring about the change demanded for various reasons by Israel, the Palestinians or negotiators, but there is no clear mechanism for removing and replacing him.