Blinken talks of need to ‘forge new reality’ in Middle East in last major foreign policy speech
Blinken speaks of the need to “forge a new reality” in the Middle East. He said he doesn’t want to turn “back the clock” to the way things were before 7 October 2023. He said he wants countries in the Middle East to be able to achieve their aspirations in a climate of peace and security. He says this will be difficult to achieve. A heckler interrupted his speech and said that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, a war that the US has fuelled through its huge amount of military assistance given to Israel. Blinken says the US has a goal of ending the war in Gaza and normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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“It’s right on the brink,” the US secretary of state says. “It’s closer than it’s ever been before.”
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“We await final word from Hamas on its acceptance and until we get that word, will remain on the brink.”
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He says that could come “any time”, including in the hours and days ahead.
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Blinken speaks of the need to “forge a new reality” in the Middle East. He said he doesn’t want to turn “back the clock” to the way things were before 7 October 2023. He said he wants countries in the Middle East to be able to achieve their aspirations in a climate of peace and security. He says this will be difficult to achieve. A heckler interrupted his speech and said that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, a war that the US has fuelled through its huge amount of military assistance given to Israel. Blinken says the US has a goal of ending the war in Gaza and normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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Blinken says Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, is a “shadow of its former self” with its senior leadership killed and much of its infrastructure destroyed by the Israeli military. He also mentioned former Syrian president Bashar-al Assad being ousted by rebel forces last month and said that Hamas – the Palestinian militant group – has been “decimated”. He said “immeasurable” suffering has been inflicted on Palestinians, though there has been what he describes as “strategic gains” in the region. Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many multiple times, is hungry and/or knows someone who has “lost a loved one” in (Israel’s) war, Blinken says. The more people suffer, the less they feel sympathy for the suffering of the other side, he added.
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Antony Blinken is delivering his last (major) remarks in Washington as secretary of state before the Trump administration comes in next week. Blinken, who has been heavily involved in negotiations, is set to talk about the future of the Middle East and comment on the prospect of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. You can watch our live feed at the top of the blog to follow along.
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As we have been reporting throughout the blog, both Israel and Hamas delegations are in the same building in the Qatari capital of Doha discussing the ceasefire deal, which is being hosted by Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
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Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari has been quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the ongoing negotiations are positive and productive. He said the two parties are at the “closest point” yet to agreeing on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages.
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Reuters is now also carrying what it says is an outline of the proposed deal between Israel and Hamas, according to information it has received from an Israeli official and a Palestinian official.
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It reports the first phase entails:
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33 hostages would be set free. These include children, women including female soldiers, men above 50, wounded and sick. Israel believes most are alive but has had no official confirmation
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On the 16th day from the deal taking effect, negotiations would start on a second stage, with the aim of securing the return of the remaining living hostages – male soldiers and younger civilian males – and the return of the bodies of dead hostages
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In return for the hostages, Israel will free from its jails a significant number of Palestinian prisoners, although exactly how many will depend on how many hostages are still alive. The two officials have given Reuters slightly differing indications of how many – the Israeli official said the number would be “many hundreds”, while the Palestinian official said it would be more than 1,000
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Where the prisoners would be sent has not yet been agreed but anyone convicted of murder or deadly attacks would not be released to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and anyone who took part in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel would not be released
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Israel will not fully withdraw its troops from Gaza until all the hostages have been returned but there will be a phased pull back, with Israeli forces remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages
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There would be security arrangements at the Philadelphi corridor bordering Egypt, along the southern edge of Gaza, with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal
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Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed back, with a mechanism to ensure no weapons are moved there, and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza will start to work gradually. There would be a significant increase of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip
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Israeli media reports that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet members of the Hostage Families Forum at 2.30pm (12.30pm GMT) today.
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The Times of Israel states the meeting comes “amid indications Israel is on the brink of agreeing on a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.”
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It quotes the forum saying that there will be a gathering outside the meeting, where family members will demand “an agreement that guarantees the return of every last hostage, with a predetermined method and timeline.”
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It is understood that about 30 hostages including women, the elderly, the wounded and sick, would be released gradually in the first phase of the proposed deal, in return for the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. Male hostages would be released at a later stage.
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Hamas and other groups seized and abducted about 250 people from southern Israel on 7 October 2023, and about 100 of them, not all of whom are believed to be alive, remain in captivity. Some hostages were released during a previous limited ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange in late 2023.
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Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, states that at least 24 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza since dawn.
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He reports:
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Most recently, a residential building was hit in the city of Khan Younis, causing dozens of reported casualties. They are being transferred to Nasser hospital.
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Civilians, in this time preceding a possible ceasefire deal, are doing everything they can to avoid areas that may have some type of military presence, but they report being trapped by quadcopter drones.
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Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has also closed Al Jazeera operations there.
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As of 13 January, preliminary investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists showed at least 160 journalists and media workers were among those killed in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since 7 October 2023.
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It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
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Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said that recent statements by both president Joe Biden and president-elect Donald Trump have contributed to the improved prospects of a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
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During his press conference in Doha, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson was asked what has made a ceasefire deal more likely now, and specifically if the prospect of the incoming second Trump administration in the US had made a difference.
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Majed Al-Ansari told reporters “That is a question I would like to answer after announcing that there is an agreement.”
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He said he would rather rephrase it and answer the question “why are we more optimistic right now?”
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He continued:
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So the main reason why we are more optimistic right now is during the past months there were underlying issues, major issues between the two parties [Israel and Hamas] unresolved.
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These issues were resolved during the talks in the past couple of weeks, and therefore we have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed, and we have language pertaining to this issue that has been distributed between both parties.
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We especially appreciate the roles of both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration in the talks in the past couple of weeks, they have been involved fully in the talks. They were working in tandem together here in Doha and beyond in the region to make sure that the deal happens.
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And we appreciate statements by both president Biden and president-elect Trump that were helpful in pushing the deal forward.
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Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari has said his country believes ceasefire and hostage release negotiations between Israel and Hamas are “at the final stages” but cautioned that people “shouldn’t be over-excited about what’s happening right now.”
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Speaking in Doha in English during a bilingual press conference, he said: “It is very important not to raise expectations to a level that doesn’t link to what’s happening on the ground right now.
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“We are, we do believe, at a developed stage. We do believe we are at the final stages. But obviously, until there is an announcement, there will be no announcement, and therefore we shouldn’t be over-excited about what’s happening right now.”
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Al-Ansari made a point of thanking representatives of both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration from the US who are participating in talks, and said “the meetings that have taken place here in Doha are productive. They are positive, and we hope to hear some developments.”
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The foreign ministry spokesperson then reiterated Qatar’s longstanding position on the conflict, saying
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Obviously, we have said this for months. This war should have been over a long time ago. The humanitarian cost of the ongoing war is unbearable and continues to be unbearable for the people of Gaza and for the stability and security of this region.
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And therefore, we again say and call on both parties to seriously engage in the negotiations, which are happening right now – and we do applaud the fact that the negotiations are taking place – but we also, you know, are urging both sides to end this now and sign the agreement as soon as possible, so … both the hostages and prisoners can get back to their families and life in this region, and stability in this region.
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On Monday night, Donald Trump described a possible ceasefire as being “very close.”
\n “I understand … there’s been a handshake and they are getting it finished – and maybe by the end of the week,” Trump told the American cable channel Newsmax Monday night.
\n He added that part of the deal would see “bodies” brought out of the Gaza Strip, without elaborating.
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Negotiators are to meet in Doha today to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza after Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was imminent.
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Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by envoys of both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.
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A Palestinian source close to the talks told Reuters he expected the deal to be finalised on Tuesday if “all goes well.”
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David Barnea, director of Israel’s spy service Mossad, Ronen Bar director of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy; Brett McGurk, Biden’s outgoing Middle East envoy and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani were hoping to forge the deal.
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“The deal … would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started,” Biden said on Monday.
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Welcome to our live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. It is nearly 10.30am in Gaza City and Jerusalem.
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Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 people overnight, including six women and four children, health officials said, as Israel and Hamas appeared to be coming closer to a ceasefire deal to end the 15-month war and release dozens of hostages.
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Earlier in Washington, US president Joe Biden said that the contours of the deal matched a “proposal that I laid out in detail months ago”. The deal comes less than a week before the inauguration of Donald Trump as Biden’s successor.
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There have been intensifying indirect negotiations in Qatar attended by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
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Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt but they have previously stalled over issues including the exchange of hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, whether a ceasefire is permanent and the extent of the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
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Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in the conflict so far, in the earliest months of fighting.
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Other developments include:
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Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that a wave of Israeli airstrikes killed more than 50 people in the Palestinian territory’s main city on Monday. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes pounded Gaza City throughout the day, hitting “schools, homes and even gatherings of people”. “There is no room in hospitals to receive the wounded,” Bassal told AFP. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not immediately comment on the claims.
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The IDF said five soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, bringing to nine the number of its troops killed since Saturday.
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Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels meanwhile fired a missile at central Israel, setting off sirens and sending people fleeing to shelters without causing any casualties. Police said Tuesday several homes were damaged outside Jerusalem and released a photo of a missile casing that had crashed into a roof.
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An Israeli lawyer has filed submissions to the international criminal court (ICC) alleging incitement to genocide against Palestinians by eight Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, said at least five people were killed in the bombing of the Salah al-Din school in Gaza City, which was housing displaced Palestinian people.
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At least 46,584 Palestinian people have been killed and 109,731 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in its latest update. At least 19 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
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Key events
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that following investigations by Israel’s air force and home front command, a ballistic missile launched from Yemen overnight was successfully intercepted by air defences.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said it fired a missile in the early hours of Tuesday, triggering sirens in several areas across central Israel. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
A large fragment of a Houthi missile landed on the roof of a home in Mevo Beitar overnight, causing damage, the IDF said.
The military said it identified additional shrapnel impacts in Tzur Hadassah and Beitar Illit, with no major damage.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was delivering a speech at the Atlantic Council thinktank when he was interrupted by Gaza protesters.
One protester told the US secretary that he would “for ever be known as bloody Blinken, secretary of genocide”.
“You have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on your hands,” she said.
Israel’s health ministry is preparing for the return of 33 hostages as part of the first phase of a potential ceasefire, an Israeli official said.
The conditions of these hostages, which will include women, children, older adults and wounded civilians, will be “very different” than when Hamas released 105 hostages as part of a hostage deal in November 2023, Dr Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of the ministry’s public health division, said, the Times of Israel reported. It adds:
The admitting hospitals will make sure to give the hostages their privacy while they do medical tests and check for nutritional deficiencies. The medical staff will continue to monitor the hostages’ health over a long period of time.
The head of the Palestinian political party Palestinian National Initiative said they believe Hamas has accepted a ceasefire deal.
Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC that the deal was “closer … than any time before”, adding:
The deal is almost ready and I think the Palestinian side has agreed to it, accepted it. They’re waiting for the Israeli final response.
Gaza ceasefire deal ‘right on the brink’, says Blinken
Blinken is asked about reports earlier today that Hamas has accepted a ceasefire deal.
“It’s right on the brink,” the US secretary of state says. “It’s closer than it’s ever been before.”
“We await final word from Hamas on its acceptance and until we get that word, will remain on the brink.”
He says that could come “any time”, including in the hours and days ahead.
Blinken says the US continues to believe that the best way to create a more stable and secure Middle East is through forging a more integrated region.
Key to achieving that integration is ending the conflict in a way that “realizes the longstanding aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians to live with peace and security in states of their own”, he says.
Ultimately, however, the US cannot dictate outcomes, Blinken says. He says there is a “historic window of opportunity” open that will prevent more deaths and will “break the cycle of violence and bloodshed.”
“We must not squander this chance,” he says.
Blinken says that the longer the war goes on, the worst the humanitarian situation gets in Gaza.
He says Israel’s efforts have “fallen far short” of meeting the “colossal” scale of humanitarian need in Gaza, and there are steps that Israel can take to ensure that critical aid reaches Palestinians in need.
Those steps include restarting the flow of commercial goods, undertaking pauses in military operations, and securing aid corridors to storage and distribution sites.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza is a tragedy in its own right,” he said. “It has also isolated Israel internationally and imperiled its hardened strides toward building relationships in the region.”
Blinken talks of need to ‘forge new reality’ in Middle East in last major foreign policy speech
Blinken speaks of the need to “forge a new reality” in the Middle East. He said he doesn’t want to turn “back the clock” to the way things were before 7 October 2023. He said he wants countries in the Middle East to be able to achieve their aspirations in a climate of peace and security. He says this will be difficult to achieve. A heckler interrupted his speech and said that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, a war that the US has fuelled through its huge amount of military assistance given to Israel. Blinken says the US has a goal of ending the war in Gaza and normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah is a ‘shadow of its former self’, Blinken says
Blinken says Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, is a “shadow of its former self” with its senior leadership killed and much of its infrastructure destroyed by the Israeli military. He also mentioned former Syrian president Bashar-al Assad being ousted by rebel forces last month and said that Hamas – the Palestinian militant group – has been “decimated”. He said “immeasurable” suffering has been inflicted on Palestinians, though there has been what he describes as “strategic gains” in the region. Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many multiple times, is hungry and/or knows someone who has “lost a loved one” in (Israel’s) war, Blinken says. The more people suffer, the less they feel sympathy for the suffering of the other side, he added.
Blinken has been called a “monster” and a “war criminal” by a heckler. “You have no compassion,” she said.
US secretary of state delivers remarks expected to focus on Middle East
Antony Blinken is delivering his last (major) remarks in Washington as secretary of state before the Trump administration comes in next week. Blinken, who has been heavily involved in negotiations, is set to talk about the future of the Middle East and comment on the prospect of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. You can watch our live feed at the top of the blog to follow along.
Militant group Islamic Jihad, which is separate from Hamas and also holds hostages in Gaza, said it was sending a senior delegation that would arrive in Doha on Tuesday night to take part in final arrangements for a ceasefire deal.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer has confirmed that the government will vote on any ceasefire deal put forward by negotiators, as was the case for the temporary truce agreed upon in November 2023. “Again, this is not concluded yet – it’s very important to remember that. We are moving closer but this is not concluded yet,” he was quoted by BBC News as saying, in reference to the talks in Doha. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza. Eighty captives were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails in a ceasefire in November that year, but the truce collapsed after a week.
Despite the ongoing truce talks in Qatar, at least 32 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn, with at least 24 of these people killed in the central and southern parts of the territory, medical sources have told Al Jazeera Arabic.
At least 35 Palestinian people have been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank since yesterday evening until this morning, Tte Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a joint statement.
According to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, the detentions were carried out in Nablus, Salfit, Jenin, Tulkarm and Hebron.
These detentions were accompanied by assaults, threats against detainees and their families and the destruction of property, Wafa reported.
It is estimated that over 11,000 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023.
Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the West Bank.
They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.
