Forced disappearance and denial of visits

Until October 2023, Israel permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit Palestinian detainees and regularly provided it with information, in accordance with its obligations under the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions. But with the onset of the war, Israel withheld ICRC access to prisoners and information, in a measure contrary to international law. In response to a petition submitted by ACRI, PHRI, HaMoked, and Gisha in February 2024, the state announced its intention to establish an external oversight mechanism to replace the ICRC (again, in violation of international legal standards). However, as far as is known, no such mechanism has been established.

Israel has also placed a blanket ban on family visits for security detainees from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and has stopped sharing information about Palestinians prisoners and detainees held in Israel since before the outbreak of hostilities.

The emergency hotline, the only available channel for attempting to locate detainees, stopped responding to inquiries about detainees from Gaza. Numerous HCJ petitions filed with the assistance of HaMoked in an attempt to locate detainees were dismissed on procedural grounds. Not until April 2024, six months into the war, was an email address provided for inquiries; in practice, however, it proved ineffective for locating many of the detainees. In many cases, the military fails to confirm a person’s detention, even when they were taken in front of family members. At times months pass before any information is provided, if it is provided at all. This conduct, indicative of poor record-keeping, raises serious concerns that the actual number of Gazans who have died in custody is higher than current documentation suggests.

As an example, Mounir and Yassin Alfaqawi were arrested in front of their family, but for months the military insisted they were not in custody. It was only following a petition that it was discovered that they had died in custody, apparently after being used as human shields.

For further reading:

HaMoked, Unaccounted For: Disappearance of Gaza Palestinians After They Were in the Custody of Israeli Security Forces, November 2024

HaMoked, HaMoked to the Military Advocate General: Hundreds of Gaza residents have disappeared after being in military custody; Israel must establish an orderly and systematic registration mechanism for all Gazans held within the Gaza Strip, October 2025.