Palestinian groups have expressed “grave concerns” about the safety of jailed political figure Marwan Barghouti after his son reported receiving a call about Israeli guards allegedly torturing the popular leader in an Israeli prison.Qassam Barghouti made the statement on Facebook on Friday, but later deleted the post, saying he was trying to obtain information about his father’s health from relevant agencies.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIn the deleted post, Qassam said he had received a call from a person identifying themselves as a Palestinian prisoner and who said Israeli prison guards had beaten his father severely, leaving him “physically shattered”.The person, who called from an Israeli number, said that the guards had broken Barghouti’s ribs, teeth and cut off a part of his father’s ear for “entertainment”, according to Qassam.He added in a later post that he was trying to contact the caller but had not been able to do so.A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service said in a statement to The Times of Israel that the allegations were “another total lie” and “propaganda” against its prison staff.The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, meanwhile, condemned the “new act of intimidation targeting” Barghouti’s family, saying it had only further escalated their already “grave concerns” for the prisoner’s safety.“This act is a direct continuation of the organised terrorism policy implemented by the occupation regime against the families of prisoners, in an attempt to break their will and psychologically blackmail them,” th …
