‘Shocking’ photo of freed Palestinian journalist shows ‘tragic’ conditions in Israeli prisons: Rights group
A prisoner advocacy group said Wednesday the “shocking” photo of Palestinian journalist Mujahid Bani Mufleh after six months in Israeli detention shows the ongoing “tragic” conditions in Israeli prisons, Anadolu reports.
“Israeli prisons have turned into a tool for slow and direct killing of Palestinian prisoners,” the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.
Bani Mufleh posted a photo of himself on Wednesday after a long treatment journey for an illness he contracted while imprisoned by Israel. The photo showed part of his brain skull removed as a result of surgeries he underwent while in Israeli detention.
The Palestinian journalist also lost significant weight, appearing noticeably pale and almost unrecognizable.
“Bani Mufleh is not an isolated case, but points to thousands of cases that have been subjected to systematic violations inside Israeli prisons, including torture, starvation, denial of treatment, physical and psychological assaults, in addition to continuous psychological terror,” the society said.
It said prisoner affairs groups have been following up on hundreds of Palestinians released from Israeli prisons in “serious health and psychological conditions.”
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“Many other cases remain unreported as their families are afraid of re-arrest,” it added.
The rights group said Israeli forces detained Bani Mufleh, from the town of Beita in Nablus, in June 2025 without charge under Israel’s administrative detention policy and released him in January 2026.
“Bani Mufleh suffered a severe brain hemorrhage just two days after his release and he was transferred to a hospital in critical condition,” it said.
“Until today, he still needs a long and complex course of treatment to recover,” the society said.
The group said Israel has escalated its violations against Palestinian journalists since the Gaza war, arresting 245 journalists since October 2023.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli escalation by the army and settlers in the West Bank has killed 1,173 Palestinians, wounded 12,666, led to the arrest of about 23,000 and displaced 33,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
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