Gaza Herald – The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the occupation’s policy preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian detainees since October 2023 is unlawful, ordering its annulment after concluding there was no legal basis for the restriction.
The decision, issued unanimously by the panel of justices, determined that the Israeli occupation failed over a period exceeding two years to present a coherent legal justification for the sweeping ban, despite repeated opportunities during court proceedings to substantiate its position.
Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, who authored the main ruling, stated that the case was marked by “exceptional circumstances,” noting that the state repeatedly requested extensions and delays in submitting responses and detailed legal arguments, significantly prolonging the proceedings.
The court found that while the government initially linked the policy to the issue of Israeli captives held in Gaza following the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, the restrictions remained in place even after those matters were resolved, without any updated justification being provided.
After reviewing Israeli legislation alongside international legal norms, the court concluded that there was no legal foundation permitting a blanket prohibition on Red Cross visits or on the transmission of information regarding Palestinian detainees.
The ban had effectively halted a long-standing practice that allowed the ICRC to access Palestinian detainees, monitor detention conditions, and facilitate communication between detainees and their families, practices that had been in place for decades prior to the war.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by several human rights organizations, including Adalah, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, HaMoked, and Gisha, which challenged the legality of the restrictions amid growing reports of deteriorating conditions in Israeli detention facilities.
Human rights groups welcomed the decision as a critical step toward restoring independent oversight of detention conditions, particularly given mounting concerns over the treatment and welfare of Palestinian prisoners during the ongoing war.
The case marks one of the most significant legal challenges to wartime detention policies since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, and follows a prolonged judicial process marked by repeated government delays and procedural extensions.
