The Elders, a coalition of prominent global leaders originally created by Nelson Mandela in 2007, have called on the US President to pressure Israel to release imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti. They described the move as crucial to reviving the two-state solution and securing long-term peace.
The appeal followed a meeting in London, where the group issued a statement on Wednesday asserting that Barghouti’s release could help rebuild trust and restore a viable political horizon between Palestinians and Israelis.
“We condemn the ill-treatment, including torture, of Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are arbitrarily detained,” said the independent group of global leaders who work together on solutions for major world problems using their collective experience. “ Israeli authorities must abide by their responsibilities under international law to protect prisoners’ human rights.”
The Guardian recently reported that Israel returned mutilated bodies of Palestinian detainees showing signs of extreme torture—including one man strangled with a ligature. The paper declined to publish the images due to their graphic nature. Documents and forensic evidence confirmed that detainees were shackled, blindfolded, strapped to hospital beds, and forced to wear diapers—corroborating earlier testimonies published by the newspaper.
Several senior Israeli political and security officials—including a former head of Shin Bet—have expressed support for Barghouti’s release, acknowledging his potential to advance peace, dignity, and security for both Palestinians and Israelis, according to The Elders' statement.
Barghouti was convicted in a trial widely condemned as illegitimate by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and human rights monitors. The statement reaffirmed that he supported the Palestinian right to resist Israeli occupation while consistently rejecting attacks on civilians.
Last Thursday, Trump said he was considering pushing for Barghouti’s release. Barghouti has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002 and is serving five life sentences plus 40 years for allegedly directing attacks during the Second Intifada.
A Palestinian official familiar with detainee negotiations told Al Manassa on Saturday that “positive signs” have emerged regarding Barghouti’s potential release, calling this the “closest moment yet” to securing his freedom.
Two weeks earlier, negotiations over the so-called “senior prisoners list”—which had included Barghouti—collapsed. This came after US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump advisor Jared Kushner failed to secure guarantees during a meeting with the Israeli prime minister, according to sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad who spoke to Al Manassa at the time.
Qassam Barghouti, Marwan Barghouti’s son, told Al Arabiya that Israel refuses to release his father due to his political influence. He said his father has endured repeated assaults in Israeli prisons, and confirmed that the family has had no direct contact with the Trump administration.
Arab Barghouti, Marwan's other son, told the BBC that Israel targets his father because “they see in him someone who could unite the Palestinian people under a political vision accepted by Palestinians and the international community alike.”
The Elders urged Trump to seize the momentum created by the fragile Gaza ceasefire. “The ceasefire has offered some relief to the population of Gaza but the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic,” they wrote.
The group emphasized that Barghouti has long supported a negotiated two-state solution and remains the most popular Palestinian leader in public opinion polls. “But Israel has so far refused to release Barghouti as part of President Trump’s deal.”
Among the signatories of the statement were former Colombian president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos; Graça Machel, co-founder of The Elders and former First Lady of Mozambique and South Africa; Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian prime minister and ex-director-general of the World Health Organization; and Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and former head of the UN Development Programme.
