Shady Abu Sedo, a 35-year-old Palestinian photojournalist, recently shared his harrowing experience of being detained in Israeli prisons during the Gaza war. Arrested in March 2024 while working at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Abu Sedo was held under Israel’s ‘unlawful combatants’ law, which allows indefinite detention without charge. He described his time in Sde Teiman and Ofer military prisons as a ‘black hole,’ where he endured prolonged periods of isolation, physical torture, and psychological trauma. Denied access to his lawyer for months, Abu Sedo lost all sense of time and was unable to communicate with the outside world. His release on October 13, 2025, came as part of a US-brokered ceasefire that exchanged 20 Israeli hostages for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Amnesty International and other rights groups have condemned Israel’s use of the ‘unlawful combatants’ law, which they argue facilitates arbitrary detentions and violates international humanitarian standards. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also been barred from visiting detainees, further isolating prisoners and hindering their legal defense. Despite calls for reform, Israel continues to hold around 1,000 ‘unlawful combatants’ in military and civilian prisons, with many detainees, including healthcare workers, languishing without charge.