A photo of this Gaza man at an Israeli detention camp was leaked to CNN. He tells CBC what happened inside

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.

It's a photo that quickly circulated on social media: A man standing at a barbed wire fence, arms behind his head and blindfolded. A group of men sit behind him in rows, also blindfolded. Everyone wears the same grey tracksuit. 

The image was taken at Sde Teiman in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Over the last several months, the obscure barracks — a military base partially converted into a detention facility during the Gaza war — have become the centre of accusations that the Israeli military is severely abusing Palestinian detainees. 

In fact, due to widespread outcry, the majority of detainees have been transferred out of Sde Teiman.

And the photo, originally leaked to CNN in May, has become emblematic of those alleged conditions.

Freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife, who has been working with CBC from Gaza, tracked down its subject: Ibrahim Salem, a 38-year-old from northern Gaza who was in Israeli detention for eight months and was released Aug. 3. He confirmed he was the man pictured. CBC also independently verified that the image was of him.

Salem was held in multiple locations during his detention and was in Sde Teiman for just 52 days. But, he says, his time there was the worst of his detainment.

Among other allegations, Salem says he was stripped naked, psychologically tormented and beaten. And by the time he was released, the world had seen the photo of him — including his family.

CBC News reached out to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for comment on the claims in this story. It referred CBC to a previous press release responding to a New York Times story about Sde Teiman, largely denying allegations of abuse.

"The IDF rejects outright allegations concerning systematic abuse of detainees in the Sde Teiman detention facility, including allegations of sexually abusing detainees, electrocuting detainees and stripping detainees of their clothes during interrogations," the IDF statement said.

Salem was still in northern Gaza in December 2023. He had been sheltering at the Kamal Adwan Hospital after his house was bombed, killing much of his family, including his wife, sister, brother and nephew. His kids were being treated for injuries at the hospital when it was besieged by the IDF on Dec. 11 during a search for Hamas operatives. That was when he was taken, he says.

"They walked with me a bit and then made me take off all my clothes," Salem told El Saife. 

"[I was] completely naked." 

He says he was never told what crime he was accused of committing.