According to information HaMoked has received from various sources, on July 13, 2014, visits by relatives from the OPT to their loved-ones held in prisons in the north and center of Israel have been renewed; prison visits in southern Israel are still suspended due to the security situation. Israel also still bans family visits to prisoners associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
On June 15, 2014, a total ban of family visits from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to prisoners held inside Israel was imposed following news of the abduction of three Israelis (who, it was later revealed, had been killed shortly after the abduction). As concerns grew that the ban on family visits was not a vital operative measure but an act of collective punishment against the prisoners and their relatives, numbering tens of thousands, HaMoked appealed to the Attorney General and to the
State Attorney's Office to renew the visits immediately. HaMoked stressed that the suspension of visits was a draconian measure, which violates the basic rights of the prisoners and their families, primarily, the right to family life.
