Palestinian Journalist Released After 6 Months in Israeli Detention in Critical Condition; Rights Group Raises Alarm

Jerusalem, June 25, 2026
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, a group dedicated to advocating for the rights of Palestinian detainees, has raised serious concerns over the grave physical condition of journalist Mujahid Bani Mufleh following his release from Israeli administrative detention, calling it a reflection of what it describes as systematic mistreatment inside Israeli prisons.
Bani Mufleh was arrested in June 2025 from the town of Beita, near Nablus, under Israel’s administrative detention policy — a measure that allows indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial. He was released approximately six months later in January 2026. Just two days after his release, he suffered a brain hemorrhage and was hospitalized in critical condition.
A recent photograph shared by Bani Mufleh on social media has drawn international attention, showing him visibly emaciated, pale, and barely recognizable, with part of his skull visibly absent following surgery.
“Israeli prisons have become an instrument of slow and direct killing of Palestinian prisoners,” the group said in a statement Wednesday, adding that hundreds of released detainees have returned with severe physical and psychological conditions, with many cases going unreported due to families’ fear of re-arrest.
The society further alleged that Israeli forces have intensified actions against Palestinian journalists since the outbreak of the Gaza war, with 245 journalists arrested since October 2023. According to Palestinian official figures, Israeli military and settler actions in the West Bank since October 8, 2023 have resulted in 1,173 Palestinians killed, 12,666 injured, approximately 23,000 arrested, and 33,000 displaced.