Prisoners: Israel’s government ignores its own High Court
JVL Introduction
Israel’s own High Court has ruled that the Red Cross should again have access to Palestinian prisoners and a month ago declared a blanket ban imposed since October 7th 2023 must end, not least because the last of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza had been released in October 2025. Now new rules have been issued, virtually ignoring the High Court’s unanimous decision effectively denying any meaningful Red Cross access to prisoners.
Israel’s new rules, issued last month, limit the International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC) to just four visits a year and insists that a list of no more than five prisoners that it wants to visit is a submitted in advance.
Furthermore the new rules limit overall visits to just half an hour and prevent the ICRC from including certain types of “security prisoners and detainees under any circumstances”: this includes those classified as “highly violent,” but also any prisoner undergoing interrogation or held in solitary confinement. Further restrictions, condemned by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) are outlined in the article below.
This article was originally published by Ha'aretz on Sun 12 Jul 2026. Read the original here.
Israel Prison Service Restricts Red Cross Visits to Palestinian Prisoners Despite High Court Ruling
A month after the High Court struck down a blanket ban on visits placed after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, the Israel Prison Service introduced new rules hindering their implementation
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The Israel Prison Service (IPS) ought to be aware by now it has NO CREDIBILITY anywhere, there’s far too much evidence of its appalling treatment of the unfortunates within its power.
There are no “appropriate channels” within Israel to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice (though in this instance the court has at least tried to do so). Israeli law and courts discriminate against non-Jews and the courts themselves lack the power to enforce their judgements against the government and its allies.
We will have to wait for Nuremburg style prosecutions of the IPS, IDF and Israeli government, both at the ICC and in national legal jurisdictions in most parts of the world.
Israel has long believed it can NEVER be punished for its crimes. It’s probably wrong.