⭕ Following Failure of Israeli Bill to Ban ICRC Visits to Palestinian Political Prisoners 

⭕ Palestinian Prisoner's Society Demands ICRC Take Urgent Action to Resume Visits Amid Worsening Conditions

June 30, 2026 

Ramallah, occupied Palestine – The head of the Palestinian Prisoner's Society, Abdullah Al-Zighari, has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take serious and immediate steps to resume visits to Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons, and to use all available means of pressure to end the policy of isolating prisoners, which has intensified to an unprecedented degree since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

A bill introduced in the parliament of the occupying state to legalize the banning of ICRC visits to Palestinian prisoners - particularly those abducted from the Gaza Strip - failed to pass on Tuesday. Al-Zighari said the ICRC should use this development as an opportunity to resume its visits which have been halted by the occupation since the start of the genocide. 

The scale of the crimes and abuses committed against Palestinian prisoners, as documented daily by specialized organizations, has surpassed all expectations. Testimonies from recently released prisoners reveal a shocking and alarming pattern of abuse, exposing a systematic campaign of physical and psychological destruction. Prisoners have been subjected to torture, starvation, repeated assaults, and other forms of abuse that have become defining features of the Israeli occupation’s genocidal policies against Palestinian detainees.

Al-Zighari further stated that preventing the ICRC from visiting prisoners has become a real test of the international community's ability to protect the international humanitarian system and preserve the ICRC's mandate. The Israeli occupation has continued to target international organizations operating in Palestine, undermine their role, and strip them of their ability to carry out the responsibilities guaranteed under international law.

He also reiterated that the Israeli Supreme Court's ruling, which found the continued denial of ICRC visits to prisoners to be unlawful, remains without practical value as long as it is not implemented on the ground.

Experience has shown, through the monitoring of dozens of petitions submitted by human rights organizations concerning prisoners' cases since the Gaza genocide, that Israeli courts  consistently produced justifications and rulings that legitimize government policies. 

These decisions repeatedly demonstrate the complicity of Israel's judicial establishment as an integral part of the broader colonial system, which for decades has provided legal cover for violations and crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including Palestinian prisoners.