The Israeli government’s decision to prolong its ban on International Red Cross visits to Palestinian prisoners has drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups, who say it amounts to an attempt to conceal systematic crimes within Israeli prisons. The measure, renewed by Defence Minister Yoav Galant under the guise of “security concerns,” effectively isolates thousands of detainees and allows what activists describe as a regime of slow, deliberate killing to continue unmonitored.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club denounced the move as a calculated effort to block oversight just as calls grow for international access. The Red Cross has been denied entry since the onset of the genocidal war on Gaza, despite repeated appeals to resume visits amid mounting evidence of mistreatment. Former detainees recently released in exchange deals have described severe torture, starvation, and medical neglect inside the prisons, accounts that the Israeli authorities now appear determined to suppress.

Significantly, the ban was reaffirmed only hours before Israel’s Supreme Court was set to review a petition on restoring Red Cross access, a hearing repeatedly postponed since the war began. By tying the decision to the issue of prisoners held in Gaza, Israel continues to deflect scrutiny while exploiting their detention for political leverage. The timing, observers say, underscores a broader intent: to perpetuate abuse under a veil of secrecy.

The Prisoners’ Club warned that Israel’s refusal to allow monitoring represents an assault not just on the detainees themselves but on international humanitarian norms. It urged urgent global intervention to halt torture, ensure medical care, and guarantee protection for those languishing in overcrowded and abusive detention centres. For the prisoners cut off from the world, the ban signals a deepening of their isolation, and a continuation of suffering that thrives in the absence of witnesses.