In a closed hearing at the Supreme Court regarding a petition against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's decision to bar Red Cross representatives from visiting imprisoned Nukhba Force terrorists, the judges harshly criticized the state's position.
Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit stated during the hearing: "At the moment, what's being seen in the world is that Israel's prisons are Guantanamo. This is what is being reported to the world: there is starvation, dozens of prisoners are dying; literally the Israeli Guantanamo, and you're putting us, the court, in the forefront."
Justice Dafna Barak-Erez added: "The families of terrorists don't know that they're in prison, they are 'prisoner X.' Indeed, they did terrible things, but to not know that they are in Israel? Even in the most difficult times, there weren't such things. Habeas corpus demands the release of information, and [Israel] always followed this. Suddenly, no information is being released."
Later in the hearing, Justice Barak-Erez addressed the head of the Israel Prisons Service Intelligence Directorate and asked: "Is your organization so weak that it can't deal with just one American Red Cross representative?"
The Intelligence Directorate responded: "The terrorists in the prisons are talking about this hearing and are hoping that you allow the Red Cross to visit them."