fourteen months in a zionist prison;

Journalist Ahmad Shaqoura said he lost around 138 pounds while being detained in Israeli prisons for about 14 months.

To the shock of his family, other friends and me, Shaqoura, who weighed 319 pounds before he was arrested on 8 December 2023, returned to the al-Rimal neighborhood this past February with his bones almost sticking out of his body after receiving “not enough food to feed a cat” in prison.

I have known Shaqoura, who is 37 years old, for four years. Our friendship developed while he was a trainer for a course I took on digital media in Gaza City in 2021. He works for the Palestine Today news agency and is married with five children.

He is also a skilled cook and enjoys swimming and playing electronic strategy games, notably PES electronic football.

I met up with Shaqoura in the al-Rimal neighborhood in March. It was noon and we sat outside under the sunshine that he had missed seeing during his 14-month detention. He was one of 369 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in a February exchange for three Israeli prisoners.

We found no place to sit and talk except on the rubble of the destroyed houses around us.

Initial arrest

Shaqoura told me he had been listening to the news of the Israeli military invasion of Gaza City on the radio in his home when soldiers arrived and demanded via loudspeaker that the residents leave their homes and surrender.

Shaqoura said the men were told to strip down to their underwear.........more.........