The Israeli military demanded on Wednesday that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) be given access to the Israeli and foreign hostages kidnapped on October 7 by the Islamist group Hamas and its allies.
“Every minute of captivity endangers the lives” of the hostages, said army spokesman Daniel Hagari, urging the international community to act while arguing that the Red Cross “must have access to the hostages.”
“International organizations know what their mandate is and they also know the facts: Hamas is preventing them from doing their work,” he added.
The ICRC, the target of criticism in Israel, told AFP news agency in late November that it did not know where the hostages were and could not have access to them due to the lack of agreement with Hamas and its allies.
Hagari stressed that “138 hostages, children, women and elderly people have been in the hands of Hamas for more than 60 days under cruel and inhumane conditions, and some of them have chronic diseases.”
Several hostages were injured during the Oct. 7 kidnapping, the spokesman said, adding that “some remain injured.”
“Every day, every minute is crucial,” he emphasized.
More than 240 Israeli and foreign hostages were forcibly taken to the Gaza Strip by Palestinian fighters who attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
The Israeli army responded immediately with heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip and ground operations starting on October 27.
A week of ceasefire in late November allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis and people with dual nationality, exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, under an agreement brokered by Israel and Hamas and brokered by Qatar . the United States.
The released Palestinian hostages and prisoners were entrusted to ICRC teams and transported in ICRC vehicles.
Hamas has now ruled out any further hostage releases without a permanent ceasefire.
“The Israeli army will do everything in its power to rescue our hostages and bring them home. We call on others to do the same,” Hagari said.
Source: DN
