DayofPal—Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a decision to prohibit staff and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
According to a report published Wednesday by the Hebrew news site Ynet, the order, based on recommendations from Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, claims that such visits pose a “security risk” to Israel.
According to the Defense Ministry, the decision will apply to anyone detained under the classification of “unlawful combatant.”
This means that thousands of prisoners, whose names appear on a confidential list attached to the order, will be denied visits from the ICRC.
The move comes amid growing calls from human rights groups and Palestinian organizations to allow the ICRC to resume its visits to detainees, which Israel has suspended since the outbreak of the current war.
These calls have intensified following reports of severe abuses and deteriorating conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, especially after the latest prisoner exchange deal.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club condemned the decision, saying it provides “additional cover” for Israel’s prison authorities to continue their crimes, including “slow killings” of detainees and attempts to disappear them.
The organization noted that the announcement came just hours before Israel’s Supreme Court was scheduled to hold a hearing on a petition demanding the resumption of ICRC visits, session that has been postponed multiple times since the war began.
Israeli authorities have repeatedly justified the ban on visits by citing the continued capture of Israeli captives in Gaza.
The Prisoners’ Club also accused the Supreme Court and the Israeli judicial system of complicity in state’s “colonial and genocidal apparatus,” saying that these institutions have legitimized systematic abuses against Palestinian prisoners.
These include torture, starvation, denial of medical care, sexual assault, and detention in degrading conditions.
The club further reported that dozens of Palestinian detainees have died in custody since the war began, describing this period as “the bloodiest chapter in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.”
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