RAMALLAH, June 4, 2026 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Prisoner's Society said that the Israeli Supreme Court's decision declaring the government's policy of preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Palestinian detainees "illegal" remains without practical effect unless it is translated into concrete measures that guarantee the immediate resumption of visits.
Head of the Palestinian Prisoner's Society, Abdullah Al-Zaghari, stressed that any meaningful assessment of the ruling must be accompanied by a serious review of the role expected from the Red Cross and an examination of shortcomings in its intervention during the past period, in light of the unprecedented violations reported against Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention camps.
He added that the ruling should not serve as a cover for overlooking the role played by the Israeli judicial system, including the Supreme Court, in providing legal legitimacy for occupation policies and serious violations, as well as contributing to a system of impunity.
According to Al-Zaghari, Israeli courts have played an increasingly explicit role since the start of the war in providing legal cover for violations against Palestinians, while Israeli military courts in the occupied West Bank continue to function as a central tool of a colonial apartheid system through arbitrary detention, the normalization of torture and ill-treatment, and violations of fair trial guarantees.
He reiterated calls for continued international efforts aimed at dismantling Israel’s military court system, describing it as a structural component of a broader system of repression and control.
Al-Zaghari further stated that the scale of violations against Palestinian prisoners since the beginning of the war has reached unprecedented levels, citing deliberate starvation, denial of medical care, the spread of diseases, systematic torture, daily abuse, and degrading treatment.
He said these policies have contributed to the deaths of more than 100 prisoners and detainees, while the identities of 89 have so far been publicly announced.
He called on the international human rights system, including the United Nations and international rights organizations, to move beyond monitoring and documentation toward concrete measures that ensure accountability for alleged violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
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