Israel wants US involvement in new body to replace Red Cross in visits to Palestinian detainees

An IDF truck carrying Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip’s Shujaiyeh neighborhood, December 2023

Chen Maanit reports in Haaretz on 27 November 2024:

Israeli officials are in discussions with their American counterparts about involving the U.S. in a new mechanism for visits to Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Gaza held in Israel. This would replace the International Red Cross visits that had been taking place until the war began, according to the Israeli government during a High Court of Justice hearing on Tuesday.

Since October 7, Red Cross visits have been suspended, along with the transfer of prisoner information. A petition to the High Court, filed by human rights organizations, demanded that the Red Cross be allowed to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israel and communicate information about them. The government filed a request to delay its response to the petition until January 2025.

The government’s request explained that following calls from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin regarding the Red Cross visits, Israel’s defense minister at the time, Yoav Gallant, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, sent a letter confirming an alternative visitation mechanism that would include a team led by a former Israeli judge and two foreign observers to visit the detainees.

The government also informed U.S. officials that Israel is ready for immediate discussions on the operation and details of the mechanism, as well as the possibility of U.S. involvement. According to the government, steps have been taken for a professional meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials on the matter.

Israeli National Security Council deputy chief Gil Reich said that a draft procedure for implementing the mechanism and a decision proposal will be discussed in the cabinet in December, though this may be delayed, given that the U.S. administration will change in January – the same time Israel requested to postpone the court hearing to.

The government explained that the delay is necessary due to significant political developments that impact foreign and security relations, ensuring that Israel’s cabinet can make a decision with the highest political authority in mind.

The petition was filed in February by the Association for Civil Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, the Association for the Protection of Personal Rights, and Gisha, who argued that under international law, Israel still has an obligation to allow Red Cross visits to Palestinian prisoners, despite Hamas’ violations with Israeli hostages. The petitioners said that Israel, as a law-abiding state, must uphold its duties towards those in its custody, regardless of Hamas’ war crimes.

In June, the government informed the court that it was working to establish a replacement mechanism for Red Cross visits. The cabinet had approved a system for visits to prisons run by the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Prison Service, as well as for the transfer of information about Palestinian detainees.

However, in August, the Supreme Court issued an order requiring the government to justify why Red Cross representatives were not being allowed to visit security prisoners in Israel.

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