Israel Supreme Court orders Red Cross access to Palestinian detainees

Israel's Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a government ban on visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross to Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons and military detention centres. The ruling, issued on Wednesday, says the policy must be repealed because the state did not provide a legal basis for ending all visits after the Hamas-led attack in October 2023. It is the first time in about 50 years that Israel has blocked Red Cross prison visits, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which brought the case.

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The court said the ban contravened Israeli and international law. It also found that the government had failed to justify suspending the long-standing practice of allowing outside monitoring of detainees and sharing information about them. The policy had remained in place even after a ceasefire was agreed last October.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was ready to resume its visits, while the petitioners said the ruling would restore access for more than 9,000 Palestinian security prisoners. The decision has immediate implications for detention oversight during the war in Gaza and for the treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody. Before the ban, Red Cross visits were standard practice, and the suspension cut off a channel that families and rights groups have long relied on for information.

The case was brought by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights, HaMoked and Gisha, all of which challenged the government policy in Israel's High Court in February 2024. The ruling also comes against the backdrop of a wider conflict that began after the Hamas-led attack in October 2023, when more than 1,100 people were killed and more than 240 were taken captive. The attack triggered a war in Gaza that has caused mass displacement and widespread destruction, according to figures cited in the court report.

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The court's decision therefore sits within a broader legal and humanitarian dispute over access, detention and the obligations of parties during armed conflict. The case had been delayed for months. According to the petitioners, the state asked for 27 extensions before a hearing was finally held at the end of October last year.

That delay meant the ban stayed in force for an extended period, despite the continuing debate over whether it was lawful. The court's unanimous ruling now places the government under pressure to restore access and to explain how detention oversight will operate going forward. What remains unclear is how quickly visits will resume and whether the authorities will set any new conditions for access.

It is also not yet clear whether the government will seek any further legal or administrative steps in response to the ruling. The key issue now is implementation, including whether Red Cross teams can return to prisons and detention centres without further delay.

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