65 Parliamentarians Arrested Since the 2006 Elections
Israeli occupation authorities continue to hold 10 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) under harsh conditions, some for years. The longest-serving among them are parliamentarians Ahmad Sa’adat and Marwan Barghouti.
Since the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, occupation authorities have carried out repeated arrests targeting more than 65 parliamentarians. Some were arrested over 10 times and spent years in occupation prisons, primarily under administrative detention. A number received sentences as high as life imprisonment. Ten parliamentarians remain in occupation prisons today.
The occupation has long used the arrest of Palestinian parliamentarians as a tool to paralyze parliamentary life and disappear national leaders, aiming to weaken their political role. This policy persisted even after the Palestinian Authority presidency suspended the Legislative Council’s work years ago. Through these arrests, the occupation seeks to diminish the parliamentarians’ ability to challenge its aggressive plans and to prevent the public from rallying around influential leaders.
Marwan Barghouti, 68, from Ramallah, is the longest-held parliamentarian. Detained since 2002, he is serving five life sentences plus 40 years. The occupation refused to include him in both the Wafa al-Ahrar deal (2011) and the Tufan al-Ahrar deal (2025). He continues to face systematic abuse and targeting inside prison.
Ahmad Saadat, 73, from al-Bireh, was abducted from the Palestinian Authority’s Jericho Prison in March 2006 and sentenced to 30 years. He too faces systematic abuse policies designed to humiliate him and break his will.
Muhammad Abu Tir, 75, a Jerusalemite parliamentarian, has been arrested more times than any other member and is the oldest. Expelled from Jerusalem since 2010, he had his residency ID revoked in 2006 by the occupation’s interior minister. He had been living in Bethlehem and has spent more than 36 years in occupation prisons. He was re-arrested in November 2025 and transferred to the underground “Rekivit” section of Ramla Prison, where conditions are severe. Despite suffering from multiple chronic illnesses that put his life at serious risk, he is held in a section designated for prisoners the occupation classifies as “most dangerous,” specifically elite prisoners from the Gaza Strip.
Hassan Yousef, 73, from Ramallah, is a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank and one of the Marj al-Zuhour deportees. He has spent more than 27 years in occupation prisons, much of it under repeatedly renewed administrative detention. His most recent arrest came on October 19, 2023. His administrative detention order has been renewed five consecutive times without charge, as his health continues to deteriorate.
Muhammad Jamal al-Natsheh, 68, from Hebron, a formerly freed parliamentarian, was re-arrested in March 2025. He was subjected to brutal interrogation, then transferred to hospital in critical condition after nearly losing his life as a result of torture and deliberate medical neglect. He had previously been arrested multiple times, spending more than 15 years in occupation prisons.
Khaled Suleiman Abu Hassan was arrested after occupation forces raided his home in the al-Jabriyat neighborhood of Jenin in August 2024. Husni al-Bourini was arrested after forces stormed his home in Asira al-Shamaliya, north of Nablus, in October 2024. Al-Bourini is a former prisoner who spent years in occupation prisons.
Dr. Nasser Abdel Jawad, 61, was arrested alongside his son Muhammad after a raid on his home in the town of Deir Ballut, west of Salfit, on August 21, 2025. A former prisoner arrested multiple times, he has spent roughly 20 years in occupation prisons.
Anwar al-Zboun, 58, from Bethlehem, a former prisoner, was re-arrested on August 17 of last year.
Yasser Mansour, a freed former prisoner who spent years in occupation prisons, part of them under administrative detention, was re-arrested in September 2025 after forces raided his home in the al-Ma’ajin neighborhood of Nablus.
Occupation authorities deliberately target PLC members with arrests, interrogations, and repeated summonses. This policy has escalated sharply since the genocidal war on Gaza. Over the past two years, forces arrested Jerusalemite deportee parliamentarian Ahmad Attoun two months ago after raiding his home in Beit Sahour, releasing him after hours of interrogation. They arrested parliamentarian Riad Raddad from the town of Saida in Tulkarem and later released him after interrogation. They arrested parliamentarian Jamal al-Tirawi along with his two sons, Muhammad Khaled and Abdel Hamid, after storming his home in Nablus, releasing him a week later from the Huwara detention center. Parliamentarians Hatem Qafisheh and Nayef al-Rajoub were also arrested and released after interrogation.
The Prisoners’ Media Office said the continued detention of PLC members constitutes a blatant violation of the most basic international norms and conventions, with no legal justification, particularly given that administrative detention orders are issued without charges. It called for the immediate release of all detained parliamentarians.
