'I have the prison inside me': The emaciated Palestinian bodybuilder broken by Israel

Emaciated, unable to walk unaided, his right arm jerking shapelessly in front of him and his face a picture of confusion, Muazzam Abayat hobbles out of an Israeli prison. 

Before the Israeli army arrested him late last year, Abayat was a big, confident man. An amateur bodybuilder, he weighed 109kg, all muscle. After nine months in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian has lost more than half his body weight.

This is another grim, horrifying story from Israel’s war on Gaza. 

Yet, Muazzam Abayat has never been to Gaza. He was born and raised in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, where he worked as a butcher until Israeli forces smashed their way into his home at 2.30am on 26 October.

No charges were brought against Abayat during the nearly nine months he was kept in Israeli prisons. He was held under administrative detention, allowing a prisoner to be detained at the discretion of the local military commander without any charges being levelled. 

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