Israel bans Red Cross visits to detained Palestinians

Israel has banned the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian prisoners detained under a law targeting "unlawful combatants", the country's defence minister said on Wednesday.

"The opinions presented to me leave no doubt that Red Cross visits to terrorists in prisons would seriously harm the state's security. The safety of the state and our citizens comes first," Israel Katz said, according to a statement from his office.

The order, which was issued just hours before the country's top court had a hearing on the issue, prohibits the ICRC from visiting thousands of detainees named in a list attached to it.

In practice, the order will legalise the status quo that has prevailed since the war in Gaza started after Hamas's unprecedented 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel.

Under Israeli law, the category of "unlawful combatants," introduced in 2002, allows for indefinite detention of individuals without charge in military detention centres.

The ICRC says it has not been allowed to visit detainees in jail since then, save for pre-release interviews conducted under Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deals.

"The purpose of the ICRC visits to places of detention and those deprived of their liberty is purely humanitarian," it said.

"We aim to assess the treatment and conditions of detainees and work with the detaining authorities on ensuring these conditions are according to international standards, as well as restoring contact between the detainees and their families."

Several NGOs had already told AFP, even before the decree, of delays and complications faced by lawyers seeking to visit Palestinian prisoners.

The order comes as Israeli lawmakers prepare to vote on a bill that would legalise the execution of Palestinian detainees.

No access

According to the NGOs, the Israeli prison administration argues that such visits could be used to send or receive messages to and from Palestinian Islamist groups.

During Wednesday's court hearing the state's lawyer Ron Rosenberg said that a decision had been made to allow the "transfer of information to the Red Cross", which would be implemented "in the coming days".

"The information will only include names and detention facilities," Rosenberg said, and would only be given for prisoners not associated with Gaza or Hamas.

However, Rosenberg said that access to prisoners would be prevented "until all hostages are back" from Gaza.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which filed a petition to grant the ICRC access to Israeli prisons, told AFP that some of the combatants are held in military detention centres, and others in regular Israeli jails.

It said that before the ceasefire deal that began on 10  October, the Israeli Prison Service "was holding 2,673 prisoners categorised as unlawful combatants".

It added that hundreds were released under the deal in exchange for captives held in the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military accused Hamas of faking its search for the bodies of deceased hostages still in Gaza in order to stall the return process.

Providing drone footage as evidence, it said that Hamas staged a body's discovery in front of ICRC staff, who have facilitated the transfer of captives and prisoners.

The ICRC said it was unaware the body had been pre-positioned ahead of its team's arrival, as its neutral role "does not include unearthing of the bodies of the deceased".

In its statement, the ICRC called the staged discovery "unacceptable", noting "so much depends on this agreement being upheld".

(AFP and TNA staff)