Gaza, 3 November 2025 – Al Mezan is highly concerned about the safety and wellbeing of Palestinians in Israeli custody after Israeli authorities renewed a ban prohibiting delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian detainees. Al Mezan and partner organizations have documentation of the widespread and brutal torture of Palestinians detained since October 2023, and have collected hundreds of testimonies indicating that detainees are being subjected to other forms of inhumane and degrading treatment.

For more than two years, Israeli authorities have imposed such measures obstructing ICRC delegates from monitoring the treatment of Palestinian detainees. The ICRC is an independent, neutral, and impartial body with a legal mandate empowered by the Geneva Conventions and therefore entirely rooted in international humanitarian law (IHL). As impartial actors, they play a crucial role in ensuring that detainees around the world are treated humanely and that their conditions conform to IHL principles. By preventing the ICRC from monitoring the conditions of Palestinian detainees, Israel is depriving Palestinian detainees of the humanitarian safeguards enshrined in the Fourth Geneva Convention. Preventing independent monitoring of detention conditions by ICRC representatives further obscures the status of Palestinian detainees and fuels existing concern for their safety.

The barring of independent monitoring is especially concerning following recently released photos and videos showcasing the mistreatment of Palestinian detainees during a visit by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. In these images, Ben-Gvir is pictured next to Palestinian detainees who were all handcuffed, blindfolded, and forced to lie face-down on the ground. These fears have been further compounded by growing calls to enact the death penalty law after the Israeli Knesset’s National Security Committee approved a draft bill on 28 September 2025. The bill will now advance to its first reading in the Knesset, with the full support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Al Mezan expresses its grave concern over the Israeli authorities’ renewed decision to prevent the ICRC from visiting Israeli prisons, especially as Israel is preparing to legislate the death penalty for certain Palestinian detainees. Al Mezan recalls that the legal mandate and core duties of the ICRC are clearly established in Article 76 and Article 143 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that detainees have the right to be visited by ICRC representatives, and that the ICRC must be allowed access to detainees and detention facilities. Israel's continued denial of Palestinian detainees' right to visitation by the ICRC reflects a blatant disregard of the core principles of international law. This contempt for international law extends to advisory opinions and binding orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on preventing genocide, ending the occupation, and ensuring unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.

Al Mezan calls on the international community to take concrete steps to ensure the protection of Palestinian detainees and to compel Israel to uphold its obligations under international law. This includes guaranteeing that Palestinians in detention are treated in a dignified and humane manner, and that the ICRC is granted full and unrestricted access to all Palestinian detainees across the occupied Palestinian territory. The international community must also take immediate action to prevent the advancement of Israel's death penalty bill, which threatens the lives of thousands of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody.