RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestine on Monday accused Israel endangering the life of Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been in jail since 2002.

"The treatment our prisoners are subjected to in the occupation's prisons, such as the most abhorrent forms of torture, abuse, oppression, and isolation, is a slow death," Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), said in a statement.

He said Barghouti, 64, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah movement, is being subjected to isolation, torture and humiliation.

The secretary-general urged the international community, institutions, and international organizations to "immediately intervene" to stop the repressive measures against the prisoners, and make sure they are protected, and released.

Barghouti was arrested in 2002 and later sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of "killing and injuring Israelis."

In parallel with the onslaught on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, Israel has increased raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank alongside a campaign of harassment against prisoners in Israeli jails, resulting in the deaths of at least 13 prisoners since Oct. 7, 2023.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul