Israel bans Red Cross from visiting Palestinian prisoners

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the country prohibits representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visit Palestinian prisoners classified as “illegal militants”.

As stated in a statement from his office, visits by humanitarian missions “could jeopardize Israel’s national security”.

According to the report, Katz signed special decree banning such visits in accordance with the law on the detention of illegal fighters, in force since 2002. This law allows Israeli authorities hold people without charge indefinitely in military prisons.

In fact, the new order consolidates the status quo that has existed since October 2023, when the war began in Gaza Strip after the attack Hamas into Israeli territory. Since then, the ICRC has not been allowed access to Palestinian prisoners.

Red Cross: “Our visits were of a humanitarian nature”

In response to the decision of the Israeli authorities, ICRC representatives told the agency AFPWhat “have not had access to Palestinian prisoners since October 7, 2023”and emphasized that the purpose of their visits “exclusively humanitarian” — checking conditions of detention and ensuring communication with families.

Several human rights organizations, including ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel), note that even before the new decree, lawyers faced serious obstacles when trying to reach Palestinians. According to them, Israeli prison service fears the visits could be used to pass messages between prisoners and Islamic groups.

Trial and figures

It is noteworthy that Katz’s decree was issued a few hours before the hearing of the Supreme Court of Israelwhich was supposed to consider the claim of human rights organizations demanding that the Red Cross have access to prisoners restored. Back in February 2024, they filed a collective complaint, pointing out that the isolation was contrary to international humanitarian law.

According to ACRIat the beginning of October 2025, there were 2,673 peoplerecognized as “illegal fighters.” Several hundred of them were released on October 13, 2025 as part of ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hamas.

Escalation between security and human rights

Commentators note that the decision increases tension between the Israeli government and international organizations. Critics say refusing to allow the Red Cross is contrary to Israel’s obligations to Geneva Conventionsand also increases the lack of transparency regarding the treatment of Palestinians held without trial.

Meanwhile, the Israeli leadership insists: “In the face of national security threats, humanitarian visits could be used against Israel.”. The balance between security and human rights appears to be tilted back towards the former.

Since 1967 Israel has arrested and imprisoned nearly 1 million Palestinians. which is an average of 47 people per day. This is stated in a new report by the non-governmental organization American Muslims for Palestine entitled “The Prison History of Occupied Palestine.”

The report’s authors emphasize that the Israeli prison system is one of the key instruments of the occupation, through which pressure is exerted on the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the military campaign against Gaza in October 2023, the number of arrests has increased dramatically, sevenfold, from 350 to 2,373 people per month. Today, almost a third of Palestinians in Israeli prisons have been detained since the beginning of the conflict.

Israel and North Korea

Just a few countries in the world completely prohibit visits by ICRC representatives to prisoners. These are Israel, North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Eritrea, and partially China.

In general, when countries begin to block the Red Cross, it is almost always an indicator that there is something going on inside that they don’t want to show.

The ICRC is not the UN and not the media, it does not publish scandalous reports. So even if they are not allowed in, it means the situation, to put it mildly, is “not for cameras.”

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