Israel blocks Red Cross visits to conceal crimes against Palestinian prisoners: Rights group
The Palestinian Prisoners Society says Israel’s controversial decision to ban visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Palestinian prisoners is an attempt to conceal crimes taking place inside the regime’s detention facilities.
Israel’s minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, said on Wednesday that he had signed an order barring ICRC representatives from visiting Palestinian prisoners, claiming that allowing access “would severely harm Israel’s security.”
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, a group that supports prisoners and their families, the move “provides further cover for ongoing crimes in Israeli prisons” and forms part of a wider effort to strip the prisoners of their basic rights.
The group urged the ICRC to take a “clear and firm stance” against Israel’s restrictions and immediately resume visits to Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are held incommunicado or under harsh conditions.
Israeli media reported that the ban applies to all inmates defined by Tel Aviv as “unlawful combatants”— a term referring to Palestinians detained from Gaza and surrounding areas during Israel’s two-year genocidal war on the territory.
According to classified Israeli military data cited by The Guardian in September, more than 6,000 Palestinians have been detained under the “unlawful combatants” law, which allows indefinite detention without charge or trial.
Nearly 75 percent of those abducted from Gaza are civilians, the report said. The majority are professionals such as doctors, teachers, writers, and civil servants, as well as children and individuals suffering from chronic illnesses or disabilities.
Testimonies collected by Palestinian lawyers indicate that prisoners are subjected to systematic torture in Israeli facilities, including severe beatings, starvation, medical neglect, and other brutal treatments.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, 80 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 2023.
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