A face stolen by darkness.. Photo of journalist Muhammad Arab sums up prisoners' suffering

The photo of imprisoned journalist Muhammad Arab, which appeared during a court session in the occupation's prisons, sparked widespread shock in Gaza due to his changed appearance after more than two years of detention. Officials described the photo as reflecting the suffering of about 9,500 prisoners from deprivation, starvation, and torture, and called on the international community to pressure for the release of imprisoned journalists.

A photo of imprisoned journalist Muhammad Arab, which appeared yesterday during a court session held by the occupation, sparked widespread shock in the Gaza Strip, as the change in his features became evident after more than two years of detention in the occupation's prisons. Arab appeared with a pale face and features weighed down by emaciation, while gray covered his beard, a scene different from what his colleagues knew before his arrest. For observers, the photo was not just a fleeting appearance of a prisoner before the court, but seemed a reflection of what he experienced during his detention, according to official and media testimonies. Arab's photo also brought back to the forefront the conditions of prisoners, especially journalists, inside the occupation's prisons. The media director of the Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs, Islam Abdo, describes Arab's photo as shocking, telling the newspaper "Palestine": "The features of the imprisoned journalist Arab have completely changed, and signs of aging, illness, and hunger have clearly appeared on his face." The leaked shot from the occupation's courtroom was not just a detail in the life of one man, but, according to Abdo, a mirror reflecting with harsh realism what about 9,500 prisoners inside the occupation's prisons endure, deprived of the most basic rules of international and humanitarian law. Abdo explains that prisoners are deprived of visits and communication with the outside world, and even trials, judicial procedures, and litigation have become forbidden to them. He notes that Arab's photo reflects the extent of injustice and suffering that prisoners endure due to starvation, torture, and illness that has become clearly etched on their faces, in a clear form of revenge practiced by the occupation government against them. Meanwhile, the director of the Palestinian Media Forum, Muhammad Yassin, confirms that the photo that appeared yesterday of the imprisoned journalist Arab after more than two years of detention undoubtedly reveals the magnitude of the crime committed against Palestinian journalists. Yassin tells the newspaper "Palestine": The photo shows the deterioration of his overall health and the change in his appearance from the moment of his arrest in 2024 while he was at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex. He explains that journalist Arab has been subjected to various forms of torture and starvation inside prisons since his arrest, along with being deprived of communication with his family, and even of looking at his own face in a mirror, which he could only do after two years of detention. Yassin stresses that everyone today faces a stark visual testimony to the scale of violations and crimes committed against Palestinian journalists, especially those imprisoned, with about 40 journalists, including 5 women, held in the occupation's prisons. Faced with this tragedy, Yassin says the Palestinian Media Forum is appealing to the international community, human rights institutions, and press unions to pressure the Israeli occupation to release imprisoned journalists. He emphasizes the importance of visiting them in the occupation's prisons, checking on them, and ensuring humane detention conditions and fair trials for them until their release is achieved, while stressing the criminalization of targeting, prosecuting, and arresting journalists as a clear violation of international laws, charters, and humanitarian norms that classify journalists as civilians and warn against harming them. Yassin condemns the occupation's continued disregard for all international and humanitarian laws and charters that affirm press freedom and the necessity of protecting journalists. Muhammad Arab's photo remains a testament to the cruelty of captivity, summing up the suffering of a journalist who has been absent from his field and family, while the faces of other journalists remain with him behind bars.