Israel top court strikes down ban on ICRC prison visits

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has struck down a government ban preventing International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegates from visiting Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, prompting calls on Thursday to resume such visits.
In its judgment issued on Wednesday, the court found that the government had not offered sufficient justification for the blanket ban, which was imposed following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The ICRC welcomed the decision, saying it was “ready to resume our visits to detainees in Israeli places of detention.”
“We are continuing our dialogue with the Israeli authorities to resume our work in detention as soon as possible,” it said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
The ICRC stressed that access to detainees — including the ability to meet with them privately — constitutes an obligation under international law.
Israel had suspended ICRC visits to security-related detainees in the wake of the 2023 attack, accusing the organization of failing to secure access to hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
The ban remained in place even after the last hostages were returned in October 2025.
Since then, several human rights organizations, including Israeli ones, have denounced a deterioration in conditions for Palestinian detainees held by Israel, citing cases of mistreatment, denial of medical care and violence.
The Prisoners Club, the main association for prisoners’ rights in the Palestinian territories, said the court’s ruling would remain ineffective if the visits were not resumed.
“The ruling should not serve as a cover for overlooking the role played by the Israeli judicial system, including the Supreme Court, in providing legal legitimacy for occupation policies and serious violations, as well as contributing to a system of impunity,” Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Authority-affiliated Prisoners Club said in a statement on Thursday.