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Supreme Court Orders Red Cross Access to Palestinian Detainees

The ruling found the wartime ban had no legal basis, enabling the ICRC to resume private visits and independent checks on prisoner welfare.

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FILE PHOTO: Red Cross personnel, escorted by Hamas militants, wait to head towards an area within the so-called "yellow line" to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire, as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages seized during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in Gaza City November 12, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
Red Cross vehicles enter Ofer military prison, north of Jerusalem, in January last year. EPA

Overview

  • The Supreme Court unanimously struck down the blanket policy barring International Committee of the Red Cross visits, ruling Wednesday that the government failed to justify the restriction under Israeli or international law.
  • The ICRC said it is ready to resume visits and Israeli rights groups, including ACRI and HaMoked, said they will monitor whether the state grants full, private access to detainees.
  • The state had defended the ban as necessary until all Israeli hostages were returned, but the court said that justification no longer applied after the recovery of the last hostage’s remains earlier this year.
  • Senior ministers reacted angrily, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling for judicial change, and some right-leaning outlets and lawyers have alleged without consensus that renewed visits could be used to process Palestinian Authority payments to prisoners.
  • The decision restores independent oversight for roughly 9,000–10,000 Palestinian security detainees and raises immediate questions about enforcement, prison conditions and possible administrative or legal moves by the government.