After 44 years in Israeli prisons, the world’s longest-serving political prisoner was freed on Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement. Nael Barghouti’s time in prison saw him become one of the most prominent figures in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
His release marks a pivotal moment in Palestinian history, symbolising steadfastness despite repeated Israeli penalties that failed to break his will.
Born on 23 October, 1957, in the town of Kobar, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Barghouti was first arrested in 1978 and sentenced to life in prison plus 18 years for involvement in resistance attacks against Israeli targets.
As a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, Barghouti was released in 2011 under a prisoner swap deal in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. However, his freedom was short-lived. On 18 June, 2014, Israel rearrested him and sentenced him to 30 months in prison.
After he completed his sentence, Israel reinstated his original life sentence plus 18 years, citing a “secret file” as justification, a measure imposed on dozens of other prisoners freed in the same deal. Barghouti now holds the Guinness World Record as the longest-held political prisoner, having spent the most extended period in Israeli jails in recorded history.
Israel releases 641 Palestinian detainees
641 Palestinian detainees have been released from Israeli jails as part of the delayed seventh batch of the Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange deal. The detainees, some showing signs of mistreatment during Israeli detention, were handed over… pic.twitter.com/DIsWQZTYCm
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) February 27, 2025
In 2021, Barghouti lost his brother and lifelong companion, Omar Barghouti, known as Abu Asef. Israel denied him permission to attend the funeral, as it had done earlier when his parents died.
According to the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Barghouti endured “systematic abuse, solitary confinement, torture and unprecedented mistreatment” during his imprisonment.
So far, 25 Israeli captives and eight bodies have been returned from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal. Israel estimates that 59 hostages are still held in Gaza, while more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners remain in Israeli jails, facing torture, starvation and medical neglect, which has led to numerous deaths, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports.
While in prison, Nael Barghouti sent numerous messages to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners. “The occupation’s attempts to strip us of our humanity only make us more human,” he said in one message. “If there truly were a free world, as they claim, I would not still be in prison today.”
On Thursday, Israel released 641 Palestinian prisoners today after Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli captives. The freed prisoners appeared to be poor general health, bearing signs of torture, fractures and untreated injuries due to medical neglect.
Israel has exiled Barghouti and 90 other prisoners to Egypt and barred his wife from traveling to reunite with him, as it did with the families of other detainees.
The ceasefire agreement, which took effect on 19 January, halted Israel’s genocide in Gaza that has killed more than 48,360 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
READ: Hamas warns of ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinian prisoners
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