The Red Cross announced this Tuesday that its president traveled to Qatar to meet with the head of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, and “discuss humanitarian issues linked to the armed conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip.”
“President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Ismaïl Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political commission, and separately with the Qatari authorities,” the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement.
This visit comes as Qatar, which is mediating negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, assured on Sunday that there are only some “minor” obstacles to reaching an agreement.
According to the ICRC, Spoljaric’s visit is part of efforts to maintain “direct discussions with all parties to improve respect for international humanitarian law.”
The text also highlighted that the president has already met, “several times in recent weeks, with relatives of hostages detained in the Gaza Strip, as well as with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.”
The Israeli army estimates that around 240 people are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, following the Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
This attack caused around 1,200 Israeli deaths, mainly civilians, according to a report by Israeli leaders.
In retaliation, Israel incessantly bombards the Gaza Strip and has been carrying out, since October 27, a ground operation to “crush” the Islamist movement.
These Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed more than 13,300 people, of which more than 5,600 are children, according to Hamas.
Source: TSF
