Calls to release Marwan Barghouti – the leader of Fatah’s armed wing, who is currently serving multiple life sentences in Israel – is gaining traction. Supporters see him as the only credible Palestinian leader to challenge Hamas and negotiate peace. But freeing a convicted terrorist is never a simple calculation, and the risks are great.

Barghouti’s popularity dwarfs that of any other Palestinian figure. Polls found he could win 50 per cent of the vote if elections were held now, followed by Hamas’s Khalid Mishal (on 35 per cent) and Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas (on 11 per cent) lagging far behind. Without Abbas in the running, Barghouti’s popularity rises to 58 per cent. If Barghouti wasn’t in the running, most Palestinians wouldn’t even bother voting.

He is both p

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