Gaza Herald — A photograph showing a Palestinian man bound and blindfolded after being detained by Israeli forces during the genocide in Gaza has triggered widespread outrage after an Israeli soldier shared the image on social media. The man’s family later identified him as a relative who has been missing since late 2023, renewing urgent calls for information about his fate.
The image, which circulated widely online, depicts the Palestinian detainee lying face down without clothing on what appears to be a wooden board or bed. His hands are restrained behind his back, his ankles are bound, and his eyes are covered with a blindfold. A long-handled object is secured across his back with cords, while visible bruises and abrasions can be seen on one of his arms and parts of his legs. Hebrew text reading “Good Morning” was superimposed over the photograph.
The image gained broader attention after Palestinian writer Tamer Qaddoumi shared it on X, stating that he believed the detainee had been abducted by soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of Israel’s Kfir Brigade during operations in northern Gaza. At the time, Qaddoumi said he was unable to determine the detainee’s identity.
Shortly afterward, the missing man’s family recognized him after the same photograph appeared on the Instagram account of an Israeli soldier.
The family identified the detainee as Amin Khaled Al-Ghoul, who disappeared on November 14, 2023, while attempting to return from southern Gaza to the north during Israel’s military campaign in the Strip.
According to local sources, Al-Ghoul’s relatives spent months contacting organizations advocating for Palestinian prisoners, along with other relevant bodies, in an effort to learn where he had been taken. Despite repeated inquiries, they were reportedly informed that his name did not appear in the records of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Following the identification of the photograph, the family renewed its appeal to international human rights organizations, humanitarian agencies, and institutions concerned with detainees and missing persons to urgently investigate Al-Ghoul’s whereabouts and clarify his fate.
The case has renewed concerns over Palestinians who disappeared after being detained by Israeli forces during the military campaign in Gaza, with numerous families continuing to search for relatives whose whereabouts remain unknown.
