Geneva: On Tuesday, December 19, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) condemned the Gaza crisis as a “moral failure” of the international community and called on Israel and Hamas to negotiate a fresh agreement to end hostilities.
After visiting the Gaza Strip and Israel, ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric told journalists in Geneva, “I have been speaking of moral failure because every day this continues is a day more where the international community hasn’t proven capable of ending such high levels of suffering and this will have an impact on generations not only in Gaza.”
Referring to the release of Israeli hostages abducted to Gaza by Hamas fighters during their fatal assault in southern Israel on October 7, she stated, “There’s nothing without an agreement by the two sides, so we urge them to keep negotiating…”
“The releases in themselves are highly complex, highly sensitive missions.”
A week-long ceasefire at the end of November brokered by Qatar and Egypt resulted in the release of 110 hostages in Gaza and the release of 240 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli detention facilities.
On December 1, there was intense fighting again, and Israeli officials have pronounced several of the hostages who were still alive as dead in absentia.
While the ICRC helped rescue the captives during the truce, some Israelis have criticized the organization for not doing more to secure the prisoners’ release. The ICRC has been compared by some social media users to a taxi service that transports hostages out of Gaza.
A comparison to Uber or a taxi service, Spoljaric claimed, was “unacceptable and outrageous.” “You don’t just go there and take the hostages and bring them out,” he said.
“Our colleagues risked their lives and their safety and security during these operations and the hostages are highly exposed while these things are ongoing,” she stated.
Following a report citing a meeting between Israel’s intelligence head and the prime minister of Qatar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to reaffirm last week that fresh talks were taking place to free the hostages still detained by Hamas.
As soon as the parties reach a consensus, Spoljaric stated that the ICRC would be prepared to offer assistance once more.
“We continue to talk to all sides to then be ready to operationalise the agreement that they reach.”
