Red Cross resumes visits to Palestinian prisoners

The Shin Bet warned that renewing the visits could lead to security erosion through the transfer of information by Red Cross personnel to incarcerated individuals.

By Eliana Fleming, JFeed

For the first time since Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, launching the deadliest attack in the country’s history, the International Committee of the Red Cross will be permitted to resume visits to security prisoners held in Israeli facilities.

The decision by Israel’s security establishment follows a Supreme Court ruling in June that struck down an order signed by Minister Israel Katz banning the organization’s ongoing prison visits.

The visits are expected to resume within days, possibly as early as Wednesday.

The move comes despite intelligence assessments provided by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, which determined that Red Cross visits had become a communication channel for prisoners to relay information beyond prison walls.

The Shin Bet warned that renewing the visits could lead to security erosion through the transfer of information by Red Cross personnel to incarcerated individuals.

Minister Katz himself characterized the continuation of such visits as “a severe blow to state security.”

Red Cross officials have already been notified of the decision, and some are reportedly en route to Israel in preparation for resuming the visits.