Israel's Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a government policy banning representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
The court ruled on Wednesday that by preventing the Red Cross from visiting prisoners, the government had contravened Israeli and international law, and therefore the policy must be repealed.
It also ruled that the government failed to present a legal foundation for its policy on annulling all visits after the Hamas-led attack on October 2023, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and more than 240 were taken captive.
The assault triggered a brutal war in Gaza, which has been defined as a genocide by several prominent scholars and an independent United Nations inquiry. The Israeli army killed more than 72,950 people in the enclave, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and reduced most of the besieged territory to rubble.
Violence across the occupied West Bank perpetrated by Israeli forces also intensified to unprecedented levels. All visits to prisoners were halted, and information about them was not shared – something that used to be standard practice before the war. Back then, Israeli authorities accused Hamas of failing to secure access to the captives in Gaza.
It was the first time in 50 years that Israel prevented Red Cross visits, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which filed the petition. ACRI, Physicians for Human Rights, HaMoked and Gisha filed the petition against the government policy in February 2024.
The ICRC welcomed the decision, saying it was ready to resume its visits. The organization is continuing dialogue with Israeli authorities to resume work as soon as possible.
Wednesday's decision comes amid growing concerns over the ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. Last week, the United Nations released its annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, citing torture, rape, gang rape, forced nudity and cavity searches by Israeli forces.
Source: www.aljazeera.com