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UN Report Says Palestinian Detainees Taken by Israeli Authorities Faced Torture and Mistreatment

FILE - Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees, in Gaza on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod, Haaretz, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees, in Gaza on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod, Haaretz, File)
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UN Report Says Palestinian Detainees Taken by Israeli Authorities Faced Torture and Mistreatment

FILE - Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees, in Gaza on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod, Haaretz, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees, in Gaza on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod, Haaretz, File)

The UN human rights office has issued a report Wednesday saying Palestinian detainees taken by Israeli authorities since the Oct. 7 attacks in Gaza have faced waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks and other torture and mistreatment.
The report on detention in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led militant attacks and hostage-takings in Israel says that Israel’s prison service held more than 9,400 “security detainees” as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights, The Associated Press said.
A summary of the report, based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decries a “staggering” number of detainees — including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders — and said such practices raise concerns about arbitrary detention.
“The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk in a statement.
Findings in the report, one of the most extensive of its kind, could be used by International Criminal Court prosecutors who are looking into crimes committed in connection with the Oct. 7 attacks and its aftermath, including Israel’s blistering military campaign that is ongoing in Gaza.
Authors of the report said its content was shared with the Israeli government. The Associated Press has contacted the Israeli diplomatic mission for comment.

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Arab World

Al-Alimi Names New Yemeni Govt

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs a council meeting on Friday. (Saba)
Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs a council meeting on Friday. (Saba)
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Al-Alimi Names New Yemeni Govt

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs a council meeting on Friday. (Saba)
Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs a council meeting on Friday. (Saba)

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi announced on Friday the formation of a new government.

The lineup was presented by Prime Minister Shaie Mohsen Al-Zindani and approved by al-Alimi.

Al-Zinadani retained his position of PM, as did Muammar Al-Iryani as Minister of Information.

The government is formed of Nayef Saleh Abdulqader Al-Bakri as Minister of Youth and Sports; Salem Abdullah Issa Al-Saqtari as Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Fisheries; Major General Ibrahim Ali Ahmed Haidan as Minister of Interior; Tawfiq Abdulwahid Ali Al-Sharjabi as Minister of Water and Environment; Mohammed Mohammed Hizam Al-Ashwal as Minister of Industry and Trade; and Dr. Qasim Mohammed Qasim Baheebah as Minister of Public Health and Population.

Judge Badr Abdo Ahmed Al-Aradha was named Minister of Justice; Major General (Staff) Taher Ali Aydha Al-Auqeeli as Minister of Defense; Engineer Badr Mohammed Mubarak Basalmah as Minister of Local Administration; Muti’a Ahmed Qasim Dammaj as Minister of Culture and Tourism; and Dr. Anwar Mohammed Ali Kalshat Al-Mahri as Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training.

Engineer Adnan Mohammed Omar Al-Kaf was named Minister of Electricity and Energy; Marwan Faraj Saeed bin Ghanem as Minister of Finance; Dr. Afrah Abdulaziz Al-Zouba as Minister of Planning and International Cooperation; Salem Abu Bakr Mohammed Thabet Al-Awlaki as Minister of Civil Service and Insurance; Judge Ishraq Fadl Al-Maqtari as Minister of Legal Affairs; Dr. Adel Abdulmajid Alawi Al-Abbadi as Minister of Education; and Dr. Ameen Noman Mohammed Al-Qadsi as Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Dr. Shadi Saleh Basarah was appointed Minister of Communications and Information Technology; Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Ali Bamqa’a as Minister of Oil and Minerals; Mohsen Ali Haidarah Qasim Al-Omari as Minister of Transport; Engineer Hussein Awad Saeed Al-Aqrabi as Minister of Public Works and Roads; Mukhtar Omar Saleh Al-Yafei as Minister of Social Affairs and Labor; Mashdal Mohammed Omar Ahmed as Minister of Human Rights; Sheikh Turki Abdullah Ali Al-Wadei as Minister of Endowments and Guidance; Dr. Abdullah Ali Hussein Abu Hurriya as Minister of State for Parliamentary and Shura Council Affairs; Abdulghani Hefzullah Jameel as Minister of State and Secretary of the Capital Sanaa; Dr. Ahd Mohammed Salem Ja’sous as Minister of State for Women’s Affairs; and Abdulrahman Sheikh Al-Yafei as Minister of State and Governor of Aden Governorate.

Ahmed Saleh Ahmed Al-Awlaki, Judge Akram Naseeb Ahmed Al-Ameri, Walid Mohammed Mohammed Al-Qudaimi and Walid Ali Ismail Al-Abarah were named Ministers of State.

Arab World

Lebanese Army Chief Faces Labeling Dispute During Washington Visit

Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal during his visit to Washington (Lebanese Army Command)
Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal during his visit to Washington (Lebanese Army Command)
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Lebanese Army Chief Faces Labeling Dispute During Washington Visit

Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal during his visit to Washington (Lebanese Army Command)
Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal during his visit to Washington (Lebanese Army Command)

What was meant to be a routine visit by Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal to Washington to discuss military support and aid coordination turned into a political flashpoint, after a brief meeting with US Senator Lindsey Graham ignited a dispute over whether the army chief would describe Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization.”

The controversy was sparked by a brief meeting with hardline Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who publicly said he cut the meeting short after Haykal declined to use the designation in what he called the “context of Lebanon.”

What happened in the Graham meeting

In a post on X, Graham said: “I just had a very brief meeting with the Lebanese Chief of Defense General Rodolphe Haykal. I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, “No, not in the context of Lebanon.” With that, I ended the meeting.”

“They are clearly a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has American blood on its hands. Just ask the US Marines,” he added.

“They have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by both Republican and Democrat administrations since 1997 – for good reason.”

“As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them.”

“I am tired of the double speak in the Middle East. Too much is at stake,” Graham concluded.

The reaction went beyond expressions of displeasure. Some US coverage suggested Graham effectively raised questions about the “usefulness” of continuing support for the Lebanese army if such a gap persists between the US position and Lebanon’s official language.

Haykal’s answer raises its cost in Washington

Inside Lebanon, the issue is not limited to the stance on Hezbollah. Still, it extends to the army’s role as a unifying institution in a country whose political balance rests on sectarian arrangements and deep sensitivities.

Adopting an external designation, even a US one, in official language by the head of the military could be interpreted domestically as a move that risks triggering political and sectarian division or drawing the army into confrontation with a component that has organized political and popular representation.

That explains why Lebanese voices, including some critics of Hezbollah, defended the logic that “the state does not adopt this classification.” Therefore, the army commander cannot formally do so.

In other words, Haykal sought to avoid two conflicting languages: Washington’s legal and political framing of Hezbollah, and the Lebanese state’s language, which walks a fine line between the demand for exclusive state control over arms and the avoidance of reproducing internal fractures.

US State Department position

Amid the controversy surrounding the Graham meeting, an official US position emerged on Tuesday through the US Embassy in Beirut, welcoming the visit and focusing on the core US message.

The statement said that “the Lebanese Armed Forces’ ongoing work to disarm non-state actors and reinforce national sovereignty as Lebanon’s security guarantor is more important than ever.”

The wording was notable because it separated two levels: continued US reliance on the army as a state institution, and, in practice, linking that reliance to the issue of disarming non-state actors.

The phrase avoids direct naming but, in the Lebanese context, is widely understood to refer primarily to Hezbollah.

The visit’s broader track

Despite the political awkwardness, Haykal’s visit was not reduced to a single meeting. He held senior-level military talks, including meetings with US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine.

According to a statement from a Joint Chiefs spokesperson, the meeting “reaffirmed the importance of enduring US defense relationships in the Middle East.”

The visit coincided with broader discussions in Washington on support for the Lebanese army and plans to extend state authority, as international reports spoke of Lebanon entering new phases of a plan to dismantle illegal weapons structures in the south and north.

The army commander’s visit had initially been delayed for reasons that add another layer to understanding Washington’s sensitivity to the military’s language.

In November 2025, sources quoted the US State Department as saying Washington canceled scheduled meetings with the Lebanese army commander after objecting to an army statement on border tensions with Israel, prompting the visit to be postponed to avoid a pre-emptive political failure.

Arab World

Egypt Steps Up Efforts to Support Gaza Administration Committee After Entry Stalled

Displaced Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli aircraft targeted a five floor house last night, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli aircraft targeted a five floor house last night, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Egypt Steps Up Efforts to Support Gaza Administration Committee After Entry Stalled

Displaced Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli aircraft targeted a five floor house last night, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli aircraft targeted a five floor house last night, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2026. (AFP)

Egypt is intensifying efforts to back the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, hoping it can begin operating inside the enclave to implement commitments under the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which started about two weeks ago but has yet to take shape on the ground.

Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that those Egyptian efforts, through phone calls and meetings with international partners, are focused on two main objectives: pushing for the deployment of police forces and an international stabilization force on the one hand, and securing a gradual Israeli withdrawal on the other, increasing pressure on Israel to move the agreement forward.

A member of the administration committee said in a brief phone statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, speaking on condition of anonymity, that there is still no specific date for entering the enclave.

In the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed Cairo’s full support for the work of the committee headed by Dr. Ali Shaath.

He made the remarks during a dialogue session of the Arab-Islamic committee on Gaza with Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain attended the meeting. Abdelatty stressed the importance of the committee’s role in managing the daily affairs of Gaza’s residents and meeting their basic needs during the transitional phase.

He underscored the need to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian and relief aid into the enclave, as well as the formation and deployment of an international stabilization force to monitor the ceasefire.

Abdelatty reiterated his stance during a phone call on Friday with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

The Gaza committee, established under the ceasefire agreement, operates under the supervision of the Board of Peace, chaired by US President Donald Trump. The committee has been holding meetings in Cairo since it was announced last month and has yet to enter Gaza.

Ahmed Fouad Anwar, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and an academic specializing in Israeli affairs, said Egypt is making significant efforts to facilitate the committee’s mission as quickly as possible and enable it to operate.

He said this would limit Israeli obstacles, increase pressure on Israel, and place it under the obligations set out in the plan, particularly withdrawal from Gaza. This would counter intense pressure from Tel Aviv to accelerate the disarmament of Hamas without implementing its Gaza agreement commitments.

Palestinian political analyst Abdel Mahdi Motawea said Israel objected not only to the committee’s work but even to its emblem.

He noted, however, that Israel is not the only party hindering the committee. Hamas and other factions want to impose conditions on the committee’s work.

He warned of serious concerns that the committee could be marginalized, stressing that Egypt’s extensive efforts to support it are crucial at this critical stage of the Gaza agreement.

Hamas announced days ago that it was ready to hand over management of the enclave to the committee, while Israel continues to obstruct it.

Anwar expects the committee to begin operating in the enclave soon if Egypt’s efforts and those of international partners succeed and Washington responds positively.

He warned that the committee's failure would threaten the ceasefire agreement.