Nael al-Barghouti

Nael al-Barghouti, from Kobar (near Ramallah), is the longest serving Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli jail. He is running in the May 2021 legislative elections as a candidate on Hamas’ ‘Jerusalem is our Promise’ list. 

Al-Barghouti was first arrested by Israeli forces in 1978 for engaging in attacks against the Israeli military. He was released 34 years later in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. He was re-arrested by Israel in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment.