On Thursday, Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow international observers to inspect the welfare of the Hamas members who were captured during the October 7 massacre.
According to local media reports, the proposal will have two foreign monitors and an Israeli judge visit the detention facilities holding the imprisoned members of Hamas’s Nukhba Force. The visitors would be tasked with reporting on the humanitarian conditions that the terrorists are being held under.
The request reportedly comes from the British government as a condition for continued military aid.
Jerusalem has previously forbidden any outside access to the security detainees because Hamas has not allowed Red Cross contact with the Israeli hostages that are held in Gaza.
National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, whose portfolio covers the prison service, reacted in strong disapproval to the measure.
"The British apparently did not internalize that the mandate has ended and the White Paper is not in force. The Prison Service has a professional and independent inspection system, and their demand for an inspection visit is an infringement on sovereignty. No self-respecting country would agree to this," the security cabinet member lamented.
Similar sentiments were shared by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, and Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton.
In addition to opposition from many of the country’s elected officials, the hostage advocacy group Forum Tikva demanded "that the cabinet withdraw from this crazy decision and condition the visits of foreign observers only after there are visits to our hostages in Gaza."
The Nukhba Force is a part of the Hamas Qassam Brigades that, along with their parent organization, was sanctioned by the U.S. and the E.U. for committing abduction, murder, rape, and defilement against Jewish civilians during last fall’s invasion of southern Israel.
Related Story: U.N. Report Excludes Hamas from List of Organizations That Commit Sexual Violence
