The family of popular Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti is pushing President Trump to release him from an Israeli prison after the US leader said the region needed someone to fill the leadership void in Gaza.
Israel refused to release Barghouti, 66, the most popular among the 250 prisoners freed as a result of the US-brokered Gaza cease-fire deal with Hamas, which was reached on Sept. 29.
“Mr. President, a true partner awaits you,” the family wrote in a letter to Trump, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Someone who can help realize our shared dream of a just and lasting peace in the region.
“Help free Marwan Barghouti for the freedom of the Palestinian people and peace for future generations.”
Barghouti is serving multiple life sentences after he was convicted in 2004 for terror attacks in Israel that killed five people.
Last week, Trump indicated he might urge Israel to release Barghouti, as the US seeks to fill a leadership vacuum in post-war Gaza. Trump said he had discussed the matter with White House aides.
“I was literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called,” Trump told Time Magazine in an Oct. 23 phone interview, when asked about Barghouti. “That was my question of the day. So I’ll be making a decision.”
“They don’t have a leader right now,” Trump said of the Palestinians. “At least a visible leader. And they don’t really want to, because every one of those leaders has been shot and killed.
“It’s not a hot job.”
Before his conviction, Barghouti, served as a Palestinian member of Parliament in the West Bank and led a faction of the Fatah political party accused of carrying out attacks on Israel during the Second Intifada.
Israel views Barghouti as a terrorist, while Palestinians see him as one of the few unifying figures in politics, because he’s an advocate of a two-state solution — and a potential successor to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority.
“No one can unite Palestinians like him,” Barghouti’s brother Moqbel said.
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