The most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader — Marwan Barghouti — is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israel has also rejected freeing other high-profile prisoners whose release Hamas has long sought, though it was not immediately clear if a list of around 250 prisoners issued on Friday (October 10, 2025) on the Israeli government’s official website was final. Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera TV that the group insists on the release of Mr. Barghouti and other high-profile figures and that it was in discussions with mediators.
Israel views Mr. Barghouti as a terrorist leader. He is serving multiple life sentences after being convicted in 2004 in connection with attacks in Israel that killed five people.
But some experts say Israel fears Mr. Barghouti for another reason: An advocate of a two-state solution even as he backed armed resistance to occupation, Mr. Barghouti could be a powerful rallying figure for Palestinians. Some Palestinians view him as their own Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist who became his country’s first Black President.
With the ceasefire and Israeli troop pullback in Gaza that came into effect Friday (October 10, 2025), Hamas is to release about 20 living Israeli hostages by Monday (October 13, 2025). Israel is to free some 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences, as well as around 1,700 people seized from Gaza the past two years and held without charge.
Hamas leaders have in the past demanded that Israel release Mr. Barghouti, a leader of the militant group’s main political rival, Fatah, as part of any deal to end the fighting in Gaza. But Israel has refused in previous exchanges.
Mr. Barghouti showed he could build bridges across Palestinian divisions even as he reached out to Israelis, said Mouin Rabbani, non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and co-editor of Jadaliyya, an online magazine focusing on the Middle East. Mr. Barghouti is “seen as a credible national leader, someone who can lead the Palestinians in a way Abbas as consistently failed to,” he said.
Israel is “keen to avoid” that, since its policy for years has been to keep Palestinians divided and Abbas’ administration weak, Mr. Rabbani said, adding that Abbas also feels threatened by Mr. Barghouti’s release.
“Mr. Barghouti is not connected to the corruption that has plagued Abbas’ Palestinian Authority and turned many against it,” said Eyal Zisser, the vice rector of Tel Aviv University and an expert in Arab-Israeli relations. “His popularity could strengthen Palestinian institutions, a terrifying thought for Israel’s right-wing government, which opposes any steps toward statehood,” Mr. Zisser said.
Mr. Barghouti was last seen in August 2025, when Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted a video of himself admonishing Mr. Barghouti inside a prison, saying Israel will confront anyone who acts against the country and “wipe them out.”