High Court orders state to justify extended detention limits for irregular combatants

The High Court of Justice issued an order nisi on Monday night in a petition challenging Israel’s law on the detention of unlawful combatants, requiring the state to explain why provisions extending the time from arrest to a first appearance before a judge should not be canceled. Those clauses were added through a temporary order after the October 7, 2023 attack, and the petition was filed by several left-wing groups as mass arrests in Gaza began after the massacre.

The temporary order, repeatedly extended and amended since then, significantly lengthens the maximum time before a detention order is issued, before the first judicial review of a detainee, and before the detainee’s first meeting with a lawyer. Over the past two and a half years, the provisions have been applied to more than 6,000 detainees, mainly Gaza residents, and more than 40% were released without charges.

As part of the case, the court has required the state to periodically update it on how many people are being held under the law, the extent of the “violations of their rights,” what oversight mechanisms exist, and what the government intends to do about the policy going forward. The most recent amendments to the temporary order, numbers 6 and 7, set the maximum period before a judge’s appearance at 40 days for adults and 30 days for children.

By the end of April 2026, 1,538 detainees were being held under the law, including 62 in military custody, 14 under temporary detention orders and 48 under permanent orders, and 1,296 in Israel Prison Service custody, 12 under temporary detention orders and 1,284 under permanent orders. Four of those detainees were children, two held by the military and two by the Prison Service.