Elders group set up by Mandela and chaired by Colombia’s former president says Palestinian leader would play ‘unifying’ role
A group of senior former politicians and diplomats have said Donald Trump should press Israel to release the Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison, as an important step towards reviving a lasting two-state solution, after a board meeting in London on Tuesday.
The Elders group, set up by Nelson Mandela in 2007, is chaired by Juan Manuel Santos, the former Colombian president and Nobel peace laureate. Its members include the former Irish president Mary Robinson, the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, and Graça Machel, the former Mozambique minister and freedom fighter.
The group also condemned the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza City as “a flagrant violation of the ceasefire deal”. In a statement, they proposed much more pressure be applied on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning the humanitarian situation remained catastrophic.
The call for Barghouti’s release, at one point tentatively supported by Trump, is widely supported by European countries as they seek a way to revive divided Palestinian politics and ensure the current vacuum is not filled by Hamas. All sides have agreed that Hamas cannot play a role in the future of governance, including the Hamas leadership. But the release of Barghouti, a long-term advocate for a two-state solution by peaceful means, is seen as a way to stop a reversal in the Hamas approach to its future political role.
