Two Palestinian men have made shocking allegations of abuse and torture at the hands of Israeli authorities after being detained for months during the war in Gaza.
WARNING: Some readers might find the details and images in this story distressing.
They allege they were shackled, blindfolded, beaten, dragged across broken glass, scalded with hot water and kept in rooms with dogs at an Israeli detention facility.
They were among thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails who were released earlier this year as part of a swap for hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
Some of the released Palestinians have serious criminal records, convicted of offences such as murder and terrorism.
Many more are so-called "security detainees" — arrested and held without charge because of a perceived threat to the community.
Among them is Ibrahim Mohamad Khalil Al-Shaweesh, a 44-year-old father of six and school principal from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
Videos of his emaciated appearance went viral on social media in early February when he was released.
The images fuelled accusations of serious mistreatment and neglect.
A second man, 36-year-old mechanic Mohamad Nawaf Ahmad Abu Taweeleh from Gaza City, has also shared allegations of misconduct by Israeli authorities, after he was arrested in March 2024.
Israel has denied mistreatment of prisoners.
But the allegations made by Mr Al-Shaweesh and Mr Abu Taweeleh add to the testimony given by other former prisoners to other media outlets and human rights groups that have said conditions inside Israeli prisons amount to torture.
'It was 28 days of heavy torture'
Mr Al-Shaweesh recalls the day he was detained by Israeli forces in December 2023.
He had been sheltering in a school in northern Gaza when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stormed the building, detaining him and 34 others.
Mr Al-Shaweesh does not know where the group were taken — he was disorientated and fearful for his life.
"They totally undressed me, and they started interrogating me in [a] room," he told the ABC.
The site of his interrogation appears to have been recently bombed, according to Mr Al-Shaweesh, who recalls seeing broken glass on the floor.
"They interrogated me, and they tortured me in that location — the army would drag me on the glass, and then once on the floor, one soldier would step on me," he said.
The group was then taken to another location, referred to as Al Barakssat.
Several Palestinians have told the ABC that this is their name for the notorious Sde Temain military facility in the Israeli Negev desert.
Critics have previously called this detention centre "Israel's Abu Ghraib".
It has been at the centre of several recent controversies, including the brutal assault of a Palestinian man, which led to charges against five Israeli Defense Force (IDF) reservists.
Mr Al-Shaweesh said the building resembled a warehouse, and they were kept there for a month.
"It was 28 days of heavy torture — all kinds of torture you think about is available in that prison," Mr Al-Shaweesh said.
'They detain dogs with humans'
Handcuffed and blindfolded for the duration of his detention, Mr Al-Shaweesh said his restraints were never removed.
"You had to eat, drink, go to the toilet with your hands tied and blindfolded," he recalled.
"Whenever you want to drink, a person comes over, he takes the glass of water, and he puts it on your lips so you can drink — sometimes it works, sometimes not."
Mr Al-Shaweesh said he was also fed by hand in the same way.
"When you want to go to the toilet and have a wash, you cannot as your hands are cuffed and you are also blindfolded," he said.
The group was allowed to sleep from midnight to 5am and remained handcuffed and blindfolded all night.
After 28 days, Mr Al-Shaweesh said he was moved to another location in Al Barakssat, where some detainees were locked up with muzzled dogs.
"They detain dogs with humans, you have to be lucky, as dogs can attack you," Mr Al-Shaweesh said.
"They let a dog attack someone — they grabbed a prisoner and cut off his earlobe."
After his time at Al Barakssat, Mr Al-Shaweesh said he was taken to the Naqab prison in Israel, where he remained until he was released on February 8.
Mr Al-Shaweesh is slowly regaining the weight he lost in detention and is up and walking since speaking to the ABC, but he is expected to need a lengthy period of recovery.
IDF denies housing dogs with detainees
The ABC asked the IDF a series of questions about Mr Al-Shaweesh's treatment.
"The IDF is unaware of the allegations regarding the detainee and has forwarded them for examination by the relevant authorities," it said in a statement.
"As part of the war against terrorist organisations, the IDF detains individuals in Gaza when there is reasonable suspicion of their involvement in terrorist activities.
"Relevant suspects undergo further questioning and screening, and are detention in designated facilities within Israel territory, where they are held under detention orders issued in accordance with the law."
The IDF said "detainees" were not forced to remain in a crouching position while shackled, and that there was "no section" in Sde Temain "where dogs are kept alongside detainees."
"Detainees receive three meals a day, prepared in accordance with nutritional guidelines to maintain their health, and have constant access to water," it said.
"Contrary to claims, detainees eat independently and are not fed by IDF soldiers. All detainees are provided with means to maintain basic personal hygiene.
"They have regular access to toilets within the detention facility, which are cleaned regularly to ensure hygiene and health, and they are able to shower on a regular basis."
The IDF said any complaint would be investigated.
Social media users have challenged the veracity of Mr Al-Shaweesh's story, questioning whether he was held by Israeli forces, given his name did not appear on Israel's list of "prisoners and security detainees" scheduled for release as part of the ceasefire deal.
That list only showed the details of 736 individuals, and did not include people detained in Gaza during the war.
Mr Al-Shaweesh's name did feature on lists published by Palestinian prisoner and detainee advocates.
By the end of the initial six-week ceasefire, Israel had released more than 1,000 Palestinians — well beyond the figures on the official Israeli lists.
The release of another 620 on February 22 was delayed by Israel, in protest over what it described as humiliating and degrading hostage handover ceremonies by Hamas.
Social media users have also claimed his appearance is because he is a cancer patient — Mr Al-Shaweesh said he was not.
Others claimed he was an Iraqi — Mr Al-Shaweesh said he was a Palestinian.
Mohamad says he was burned in detention
Mohamad Nawaf Ahmad Abu Taweeleh's time in detention is etched across his back, with severe scarring from what he alleged were chemical burns inflicted by Israeli forces.
He was arrested in Gaza City in March 2024, around the time the IDF stormed the nearby Al Shifa hospital, and he said he was taken to a building where he was tortured for three days.
"They used chemicals including nitric acid, chlorine, liquid washing detergent, and other chemicals," he told the ABC.
"They kept it on my skin for three days. They put out their cigarettes on my back, they also sprayed my wounds with air freshener, lit a fire, and set my body on fire to make it burn."
It was after that when Mr Abu Taweeleh said he was then taken to Al Barakssat, or Sde Temain where he remained for three months.
"During this period, we were all handcuffed, unconscious, and sitting on our feet," he said.
"There was no movement. You couldn't move as you wanted.
"We stayed like this from 5am until 10pm, when we went to bed, when they let us sleep. Only then we would sit and rest."
He said Israeli forces would hit him and other people in detention, and he also alleged muzzled dogs were used to intimidate or attack detainees.
"They beat us and released dogs to attack us, and the young men became paralysed [with fear], of course, because they get injuries to their faces, to their bodies," he said.
"They are wounded from the impact of the dogs' muzzles that they put on the dog's nose.
"These muzzles hit the young men and their heads, which hurt them and cause these injuries and wounds in their bodies and their faces."
Mr Abu Taweeleh said he did not experience further torture at Sde Temain, but he witnessed the mistreatment of others, particularly younger detainees.
"They would pull out their nails with pliers and tongs, hammer iron chisels into their feet, and break their legs with sticks and hammers," he claimed.
"They would also be subjected to hanging from cranes by their feet and hands for long hours."
He said he had received medical treatment in Sde Temain, and claims he was treated "as a sick person" rather than a terrorist by the doctors there.
Mohamad says he spent almost a year in detention
Mr Abu Taweeleh says he was interrogated by Israeli officials before he was transferred to Sde Temain.
"They asked me about the kidnapped Israelis, where they were," he said.
"They wanted me to show them the locations of the [Hamas] fighters, where they were staying, where they were going, where they were coming from. They asked me also where I was on October 7."
Mr Abu Taweeleh eventually ended up at Ofer prison in the West Bank, near Ramallah, before being transferred again to the Al Naqab prison in Israel's south where he remained until he was released back into Gaza in late February.
He said that while he was gone, he had no idea what was going on with his family, including his son, who was just two months old when he was arrested.
His father was killed five days before his release.
"We did not know anything about the condition of our families in Gaza and the situation in Gaza at all — except when they brought someone from another region, or if they brought prisoners from Gaza into our section, then we would know what the situation was in Gaza," he said.
"The army used to tell us that they wiped out Gaza. [They would say], 'If you leave here, you will find all of Gaza like rubble on the ground, there is no place for you. We bombed your families while they were all in their homes, there is no life in Gaza'.
"They told us, you will leave here, and you will not find anyone, you will all go and be displaced far away."
During the almost 12 months he spent in Israeli custody, he said he lost around 10 to 15 kilograms in weight.
"The food served was also very little, some rice with some lentils, there were only three spoons for each one of us," he said.
The ABC has not been able to independently verify the specific claims made by Mr Al-Shaweesh and Mr Abu Taweeleh about what they say occurred inside Israeli prisons.
Israel is continuing to block international journalists from entering Gaza, apart from rare, highly choreographed embeds with the military.
ABC interviews are conducted through freelance journalists or remotely.
The IDF echoed the same comments about Mr Abu Taweeleh's treatment as it did with Mr Al-Shaweesh.
"Mistreatment of detainees during their detention constitutes a violation of both Israeli and international law and of IDF regulations and is therefore strictly prohibited," it said in a statement.
"Concrete allegations regarding inappropriate behaviour by detention staff or inadequate conditions are referred to the relevant authorities for investigation and examination and are addressed accordingly.
"Among the detainees held in the IDF detention facilities are highly skilled terrorist operatives who are considered extremely dangerous.
"Prolonged restraint during detention is implemented only in exceptional cases and only as long as significant security and safety considerations exist, while taking into account the detainee's health condition."
The IDF insisted people held in custody were fed appropriately and given access to showers and toilets.
