An official Israeli report has acknowledged for the first time that the Israeli security service tortured detainees during the Palestinian uprising, the Intifada, between 1988 and 1992.

The report, written five years ago but kept secret until now, said the leadership of the security service Shin Bet knew about the torture but did nothing to stop it.

The report did not detail the torture methods used, but human rights organisations say some detainees died or were left paralysed. Security agents were also accused of lying to the courts about their actions.

A former security service commander in the West Bank Gideon Ezra, described the report as irrelevant, saying Shin Bet had faced an impossible task during the Intifada. The Israeli government has, in the past, denied that it used any interrogation methods that amounted to torture.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service