Muhammad Assaf: What happened in Gaza caused a deep state of frustration Muhammad Assaf: Since the war on Gaza, I decided to step away from singing

Palestinian artist Muhammad Assaf has sparked wide attention after revealing emotional details about his temporary withdrawal from the music scene, speaking about a difficult period he went through during the war on Gaza, which directly impacted his career and personal life.

Through a television program, Assaf explained that what happened in Gaza left him in a deep state of frustration, pushing him to stop singing and step away from artistic activity for three years. He noted that from the early months of the war, he had already made up his mind to withdraw due to his inability to continue or engage artistically and publicly under such harsh circumstances.

He said: “In the first month of the war, I had already decided to retire. I even thought about my Palestinian song that explains to the world what is happening, but what happened was far beyond me. I became unable to speak on social media, and I went through a very difficult phase where I neither spoke nor practiced my artistic work because what is happening in Gaza is happening to my own family.”

He added that during that period he tried to express the Palestinian reality through his songs, but the scale of events was too overwhelming, leading him into a phase of isolation from social media and artistic life, remaining silent and بعيد from the spotlight.

Assaf also referred to a previous incident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when his name was proposed to join the judging panel of a talent show, but he was later excluded due to the intervention of another artist, according to his account. He clarified that he had no conflicts with anyone involved and that the matter ended without escalation.

He concluded by saying that he later felt relieved not to have taken part in that experience at the time, believing that his artistic experience then was not sufficient to take on the responsibility of sitting alongside major artistic names on a judging panel.