Shadi Abu Sido spent 18 months in Israeli detention believing that his entire family had been killed in Gaza.
Warning: This story includes photographs and descriptions of abuse and assaults that some readers may find distressing
The Palestinian photojournalist was arrested by Israeli troops on March 18, 2024 while on assignment for the Beirut-based broadcaster, Palestine Today.
"[The prison guard] told me 'I killed your family. I killed your children. I killed your wife,'" he said.
Tormented in prison, Abu Sido became convinced that he no longer had any living family members to go home to.
"I started begging them to kill me. I wished for death," he said.
On Monday, Abu Sido became one of nearly 2,000 Palestinians released from Israeli prison, as part of a hostage exchange and prisoner swap deal.
All of the detainees from Gaza were held without charge, according to the Associated Press, and many have alleged mistreatment and abuse in Israeli custody.
After arriving on a bus back to Gaza, Abu Sido discovered the destruction of his city and watched as each person was greeted by their loved ones.
Soon afterwards, he learned that everything he was told about his family was a lie.
"I was stunned. I was shocked to see them alive," he said.
"That scene was indescribable, beyond words."
Arrest was like 'disappearing into a dark abyss'
Mr Abu Sido said he was working on assignment in Gaza when he was arrested.
"I said … 'Why are you arresting me? I'm a journalist!' I was a civilian doing my job."
He was arrested among scores of Palestinians and journalists during an IDF raid on Al Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest in the strip.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said they were told by Addameer — a Palestinian prisoner support group — that Israel accused him of being an "unlawful combatant," which he denied.
Since October 7, Israel has rounded up thousands of Palestinians under its Unlawful Combatants' Law — which Israel defines as a person who could harm national security based on "reasonable cause".
Many are held for months without charge or trial before being released, which many rights groups said violates their human rights.
Wearing his press vest, the 35-year-old said he complied with authorities.
"When I was arrested, it was like disappearing into a dark abyss," Mr Abu Sido said.
"No-one knew about me, and I knew nothing about anyone."
Abu Sido says he was subject to abuse and torment
Mr Abu Sido said detainees were subject to physical and psychological abuse by prison guards, including being tied up for hours on end, and being kicked, punched and hit with batons.
"There wasn't a single spot on my body that wasn't broken. Not a single part untouched," he said.
He also said prison guards used dogs to physically assault prisoners — including to bite, hit, urinate on and sexually assault them.
"Most of the prisoners lost their minds. People started hallucinating. Most of them lost their sanity," Mr Abu Sido said.
Hundreds of detainees have made the same claims of mistreatment and abuse in Israeli detention.
According to the Euro Med monitoring group in 2024, dogs are used to "intimidate, beat and sexually assault" detainees.
Mr Abu Sido said he now suffers from vision and hearing problems, as well as injuries to other parts of his body.
The IDF said there was "no section in the detention facility where dogs are kept alongside detainees" and claimed detainees receive three meals a day.
"The IDF completely rejects allegations regarding the systematic abuse of detainees, including allegations of sexual abuse," a spokesperson said.
Human rights lawyer and former program director of Human Rights Watch, Sari Bashi, told the BBC that conditions in Israeli detention have gotten much worse since October 7, 2023.
"If they are truly abiding by the standards, why have they suspended visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross whose job it is to make sure detainees are being humanely treated," Ms Bashi said.
The human rights lawyer said there is severely limited access to lawyers amid a dramatic increase to 4,500 Palestinians held without charge, also making it difficult to know what is happening inside.
"The people coming out have scabies, they are malnourished, and they are very, very sick. They report torture and sexual abuse," she said.
An Israeli Prison Service spokesperson said it "operates in accordance with the law and under the supervision of official oversight bodies".
"All inmates are held according to legal procedures, and their rights including access to medical care and adequate living conditions are upheld by professionally trained staff," it said.
'I did not understand why they took me'
Palestinian mother Mervat Sarhan was arrested and separated from her five children in May, after Israeli forces stormed the family home in Gaza and killed her husband.
"They saw their father killed, their mother handcuffed and taken away," she said.
"My children are still traumatised to this day. They suffer from severe psychological shock."
The 37-year-old from Khan Younis was imprisoned for five months, accused of holding Israeli hostages, which she denied.
"I did not understand why they took me. I am a peaceful woman. There was nothing against me," she said.
Ms Sarhan said detainees were subject to beatings, hanging, electric shocks, and that she was also told that her children had been killed.
This week, she became the only female Palestinian detainee released with the latest cohort.
She said that she too was told that her children had been killed, until she reunited with them upon release.
"I was praying they were still alive … I searched everywhere until finally, through the crowd, I saw them — alive and well."
Israel's Prison Service told the ABC it was not aware of her claims of abuse, with the IDF claiming that any concrete allegations would be investigated.
Call for more legal support for those held in Israeli prisons
The United Nations said at least 75 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli detention since October 7, and that the torture and abuse have been deliberate and systematic.
Israel has also released dozens of unidentified Palestinian bodies, which have now been returned to Gaza's Nasser Hospital.
Gaza's health authorities have been forced to upload photos of the remains to allow loved ones to identify them.
Some families have gone to the hospital to find their loved ones in person.
Gaza Health Ministry official, Sameh Hamad, said the bodies received showed clear signs of torture and execution.
"What we saw with our own eyes. Their hands and feet are cuffed, and their eyes are blindfolded," Mr Hamad said.
"We are working to uncover these crimes that were committed against the owners of these bodies."
The Palestine Center for Prisoners Advocacy is calling for stronger legal support for those held in Israeli prisons and documentation of Israeli abuse and retaliation.
They have been largely neglected legally since the start of the war.
In 2016, the UN Committee Against Torture expressed concern that the legislation could deprive "detainees of basic legal safeguards".
"… They can be held in detention without charge indefinitely on the basis of secret evidence that is not made available to the detainee or to his/her lawyer."
