Jerusalem: Israel has officially barred the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian prisoners detained under a law that targets "unlawful combatants," Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Wednesday.

Israel cites security concerns

“The opinions presented to me leave no doubt that Red Cross visits to terrorists in prisons would seriously harm the state's security. The safety of the state and our citizens comes first,” Katz said in a statement from his office.

The decision, issued just hours before a scheduled Supreme Court hearing on the matter, prevents the ICRC from visiting thousands of detainees listed in an attached order.

In effect, the order formalises the situation that has existed since the war in Gaza began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

What the law says

Under Israeli law, the category of “unlawful combatants,” introduced in 2002, allows individuals to be detained indefinitely without formal charges in military detention centres.

The ICRC said it has not been permitted to visit such detainees since the law came into force, except during pre-release interviews conducted under ceasefire or prisoner exchange agreements linked to Gaza.

“The purpose of the ICRC visits to places of detention and those deprived of their liberty is purely humanitarian,” the organisation said. “We aim to assess the treatment and conditions of detainees and work with the detaining authorities on ensuring these conditions are according to international standards, as well as restoring contact between the detainees and their families.”

NGOs raise concerns over access

Several NGOs reported that, even before the new decree, lawyers faced delays and restrictions when seeking to visit Palestinian prisoners.

According to these groups, Israeli prison authorities argued that such visits could be used to send or receive messages to and from Palestinian Islamist organisations.

During Wednesday’s court session, the state’s lawyer Ron Rosenberg stated that a decision had been made to allow “the transfer of information to the Red Cross,” which would be implemented “in the coming days.”

“The information will only include names and detention facilities,” Rosenberg said, clarifying that it would apply only to prisoners not linked with Gaza or Hamas.

However, he added that direct access to detainees would remain restricted “until all hostages are back” from Gaza.

Prison numbers and legal petitions

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which petitioned the court to grant ICRC access to Israeli prisons, said that some of the detainees are held in military detention centres while others are confined in regular prisons.

The group reported that before the ceasefire deal that began on October 10, the Israeli Prison Service “was holding 2,673 prisoners categorised as unlawful combatants.” It added that hundreds were later released under a hostage exchange deal involving the Gaza Strip.

Hamas accused of staging body recovery

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Israeli military accused Hamas of faking its search for the bodies of deceased hostages in Gaza to delay the return process.

The military released drone footage as evidence, claiming that Hamas staged the discovery of a body in front of ICRC personnel, who have helped facilitate the transfer of both hostages and prisoners.

The ICRC responded that it had been unaware the body was placed in advance, stating that its neutral role “does not include unearthing of the bodies of the deceased.”

In its statement, the organisation described the alleged staging as “unacceptable,” adding that “so much depends on this agreement being upheld.”

AFP inputs