Palestine's top leader 'beaten in Israeli jail'

Palestine's most popular leader, Marwan Barghouti, was beaten unconscious by Israeli prison guards and his family fear for his life, his son has said, citing evidence given by former Palestinian detainees released this week as part of the ceasefire deal.

- Julian Borger

Arab Barghouti said his 66-year-old father had been assaulted by eight guards on 14 September as he was being transferred between Ganot and Megiddo prisons.

Barghouti said that five of the Palestinian prisoners released and deported to Egypt by the Israeli authorities on Monday had heard the Palestinian leader's account of his treatment when he arrived in Megiddo prison.

"What we know is that while they were transferring my father, they stopped along the way and eight security guards that worked for the prison authority started beating my father up in different ways, by kicking him, by [throwing] him on the ground, by punching him, focusing on the head area, chest area and legs as well," he said, adding his father had later told his fellow prisoners he lost consciousness as a result of the attack.

"The released detainees say that when he came to Megiddo he could barely walk and he could barely walk for days," he said.