Abdullah Ghaleb Barghouti (, born 1972) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

leading commander in

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. He was also one of the organization's chief bomb makers. Barghouti is currently serving 67 life-term sentences in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i prison.

Early life

Barghouti hails from the

Barghouti Barghouti (other spellings Barghuthi, Barghouthi, or Al-Barghuthi) (classical Arabic: ''al-Barghūthī'') is the surname of a prominent Palestinian family. Many of its members are notable figures in Palestinian political and cultural life, and m ...

clan based in the

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

area of the West Bank. His family is from the town of

Beit Rima Bani Zeid () is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate of Palestine, in the north-central West Bank, located northwest of Ramallah, about 45 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem and about southwest of Salfit. A town of over ...

. Barghouti was born in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

in 1979. He is a relative of

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

.'' 18 October 2011. He is considered by ''

Ynet Ynet (stylized in all lowercase) is an Israeli news and general-content website, and the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper. History Ynet launched on June 6, 2000, in Hebrew, following other Hebrew outlet's website launches ...

'' as Hamas' "engineer", and designed and built weapons for numerous attacks against Israeli civilians. Among the attacks he was involved in were the

Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing A Palestinian suicide attacks, Palestinian suicide bombing at a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem on 9 August 2001 killed 16 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman. A further 130 were wounded. The attack occurred during the Second I ...

, the double suicide bombing in the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall, the

Café Moment bombing The Café Moment bombing was a Palestinian suicide attacks, Palestinian suicide bombing of a coffeehouse, coffee shop in downtown Jerusalem, that killed 11 Israelis, Israeli civilians and left 65 others wounded. It was carried out on March 9, 20 ...

, the 2002 Rishon LeZion bombing, the Hebrew University bombing, the

Allenby Street bus bombing The Allenby Street bus bombing was a Palestinian suicide bombing that occurred on September 19, 2002 on a Dan bus in the center of Tel Aviv's business district. Six civilians were killed in the attack and approximately 70 were injured. Hamas c ...

, the Pi Glilot bombing attempt, and an attack on railway tracks in

Lod Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...

in which he personally laid the explosive charge. A total of 66 Israelis were killed and 500 injured in attacks that Barghouti was involved in.

Imprisonments

In late 2001, Barghouti was arrested by the

Preventive Security Force The Palestinian Preventive Security (PPS; ), also known as Preventive Security Force (PSF; ) or Preventive Security Service (PSS), is one of the security organs of the State of Palestine. It was established in 1994 by president Yasser Arafat i ...

s of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

on Palestinian President

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

's orders over involvement in the Sbarro restaurant bombing. Following a deterioration in relations between the PA and Israel in January 2002,

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

leader

Marwan Barghouti Marwan Barghouti (also transliterated al-Barghuthi; ; born 6 June 1959) is a Palestinian political leader who has served as an elected legislator and has been an advocate of a two-state solution prior to his imprisonment by Israel.Jibril Rajoub Jibril Mahmoud Muhammad Rajoub (; born 14 May 1953), also known by his kunya Abu Rami (), is a Palestinian political leader, legislator, and former militant. He leads the Palestinian Football Association and the Palestine Olympic Committee. He ...

, chief of the PA security forces, to release Abdullah Barghouti. He returned to Hamas activities. Barghouti was arrested by the Israeli

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

security service in March 2003. An Israeli military court sentenced him to 67 life terms plus 5,200 years in prison. The sentence was the longest given out in Israel's history. Barghouti is incarcerated at

Gilboa Prison Gilboa Prison () is a high security prison in northern Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egy ...

near

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...

. He is held in solitary confinement and is not allowed family visits. The Israeli government refused to release Barghouti as part of the 2011

Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as Wafa al-Ahrar () ("Faithful to the free"), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 prisoners — almost all Palestinia ...

. The Palestinian Authority has paid Barghouti a pension throughout his imprisonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barghouti, Abdullah 1979 births Living people Hamas military members Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel Palestinian male novelists Palestinian male short story writers People from Bani Zeid al-Gharbia