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She said Israel had detained "hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers from Gaza without charge or trial" and said they had been "subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and been held in incommunicado detention".

Many of the most prominent have been held "incommunicado", allowed no contact at all with lawyers or relatives for several years.

When Mr. Hadi’s lawyers began screening images of cells similar to those where he was kept incommunicado in 2006 and 2007, a prosecutor protested, only to learn that the material had recently been declassified.

The families should be relentless in demanding that the embassy obtain quick access, Genser said, since extended incommunicado detention can shield torture or mistreatment.

“But the alternative of holding them in lengthy detention, incommunicado, in such harsh conditions is also not a normal legal option.”