Israeli Prison Service Denies Guards Shot Jailed Palestinian Leader Barghouti

Israeli prison guards shot jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti in the leg with a rubber bullet last week at Ganot prison in Israel's Negev desert, his family said Monday. Fadwa Barghouti wrote on Facebook that one guard fired the bullet, causing her husband to bleed and inflicting a painful injury. She described the shooting as another episode in ongoing assaults against him.

Their son Arab Barghouti said the family learned of the incident from Barghouti's lawyer and that he had not received medical treatment. Barghouti's lawyer Avigdor Feldman wrote to the prison service that his client complained during their last visit that he had been shot in the leg. Agence France-Presse reviewed a copy of the letter.

The Israel Prison Service said the allegation is false and entirely without factual basis. It added that the service operates in accordance with the law and under constant judicial oversight. Barghouti, 67, is serving five life sentences for murder and his role in attacks against Israelis during the second intifada.

He was arrested by Israel in 2002. On Sunday the Arab League called for an international commission of inquiry into what it said were repeated assaults on Barghouti. In October 2025 Arab Barghouti said guards had beaten his father during a prison transfer the previous month, leaving him with four broken ribs and head injuries.

A video from August showed Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatening a physically weak Barghouti inside a jail.