The Supreme Court of Israel ruled on Wednesday that a government policy banning visits to Palestinian prisoners by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross violated Israeli and international law.
The policy, which prohibited the visits to those deemed “security” prisoners in the Israeli system and considered threats to national security, as opposed to “criminal” prisoners, was enacted after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza. The court ordered meetings between Red Cross representatives and detainees to resume and said the Israeli authorities must again share information about detainees, as had been standard practice before the war.
The ruling stems from a petition brought by human rights groups early in 2024, months into the war in Gaza, and comes after numerous requests for extensions by the government. According to the ruling, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did issue a directive in May to allow Red Cross visits to detention centers but barred personal meetings with the prisoners. There was no immediate response from his office to the ruling.
The decision comes as the Israeli authorities have faced repeated accusations of abuse of Palestinian detainees. Last week, the United Nations issued an annual report on sexual violence in conflicts, including Israel for the first time and citing an increase in severe mistreatment of Palestinian detainees. Israel said it would cut ties with the U.N. chief over its inclusion in the report.
The Red Cross said in a statement that it stood ready to restart its visits and called the decision “an important reminder of the role” it plays “ensuring the conditions of detention and treatment of detainees” meet international humanitarian law standards. “We are continuing our dialogue with the Israeli authorities to resume our work in detention as soon as possible,” the Red Cross said, calling the ruling “a positive step.”
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which was among the petitioners, also welcomed the decision. “For the first time in nearly three years, the roughly 9,000 Palestinian security detainees held in Israeli prisons and military facilities will receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross,” it said on social media.
The civil rights group noted that since the visits ceased in 2023, “harrowing testimonies” had emerged of abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody. In addition to monitoring prisoners’ conditions, the group said, the visits will allow Red Cross representatives to field complaints and share information with detainees’ families.
The court in its ruling noted that “a law-abiding state has an interest in” the type of criticism that prisoners reveal on visits mandated by law, writing that the meetings are important for the state as well as detainees “to bring an external perspective to prisons.”
“This is not a question of ‘luxury’ but of maintaining basic standards,” Justice Daphne Barak-Erez wrote.
The justices criticized the government’s handling of the case, noting the government had not only asked for more than 20 extensions but also failed to address the legal arguments when it did file submissions.
The court pointed out that “for a long time another shadow hung over the petition.” About 250 hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7 were held in Gaza by Hamas and other militant groups in severe conditions, some for two years, and they did not receive Red Cross visits.
But the lack of reciprocity did not justify a policy that violated Israeli and international legal principles, the court said.
Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.
