By Fekry Abdeen
ISTANBUL (AA) – A Palestinian detainee was injured after being assaulted by an Israeli prison guard at Gilboa Prison in northern Israel, the Hamas-run Prisoners Media Office said Thursdsay.
In a statement, the office said Abdullah Barghouti appeared exhausted during a recent visit, with an injury near his left eye.
“There was blood that appears to be the result of having his head hit on the door,” it added.
According to the statement, Barghouti also suffered severe weight loss, dropping from 110 kilograms to 60 “in a dangerous sign of serious health deterioration caused by neglect and malnutrition.”
“Conditions inside the prison are very bad amid a continued policy of repression and restrictions and the lack of any improvement in food or daily living conditions, which exacerbates the suffering of the prisoners and depletes their physical and psychological health."
Barghouti, originally from the town of Beit Rima near Ramallah in the central West Bank, was arrested by Israeli forces in 2003 for membership in the Hamas group.
Barghouti, who holds Jordanian citizenship, is serving the longest sentence in Israeli prisons — 67 life terms.
Reports indicate that Israel's crackdowns on Palestinian prisoners have heightened since Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, where rights groups report increased cases of abuse, beatings, torture and deprivation of food.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 171,000, most of them women and children, and destroyed about 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
At least 591 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,578 others injured in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire deal took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
*Writing by Serdar Dincel