The Israel Prison Service prevented MK Ahmed Tibi from meeting Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, who is being held in Israeli custody.
In general, Israeli law allows MKs to visit prisoners, including security prisoners, as part of their responsibilities to provide parliamentary oversight of the prison service. The decision was made in accordance with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s policy prohibiting lawmakers from meeting prisoners classified as terrorists. Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi said an emergency directive allows authorities to prevent such a meeting if it could pose a security risk, assist a terrorist organization, or interfere with investigations and intelligence operations. In this case, the Prison Service Intelligence Division, together with other security authorities, determined that the proposed visit posed a genuine security threat.
Yaakobi wrote that the decision “was reached following an intelligence assessment by the Intelligence Division of the Prison Service and security authorities, which determined that this visit poses a real security risk to the security of the State."
Abu Safiya was arrested by IDF forces in the Gaza Strip in December 2024 after security officials alleged that the hospital he headed had been used for Hamas terrorist activity. The Supreme Court later considered an appeal concerning his detention and ruled that classified intelligence presented to it supported the claim that Abu Safiya was a Hamas terrorist who had been involved in terrorist activity.
Sources close to Ben Gvir told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: “Ahmed Tibi is a terror supporter. Minister Ben Gvir’s policy is clear: no allowing terrorism and its supporters to flourish within the walls of a prison."