LONDON: US President Donald Trump should encourage Israel to release Marwan Barghouti after decades of imprisonment, an influential group of global former politicians has said.

The release of Barghouti — consistently the most popular Palestinian leader in opinion polls — would represent an important step toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the group said.

Set up by the late South African President Nelson Mandela in 2007, The Elders is chaired by former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, a Nobel peace laureate.