ICRC President to visit Israel, meet with authorities and hostages’ families

According to Hebrew media, The Times of Israel reported, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is scheduled to visit Israel on Thursday. This is one week after she traveled to Egypt and the Gaza Strip to negotiate granting Red Cross representatives access to the hostages that Hamas captured during its attack on Israel on October 7. Spoljaric is scheduled to meet with the families of the hostages as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.

According to Israeli defence officials, some 138 hostages remain in Gaza of the approximately 240 people taken on October 7. At least 18 of those remaining are dead and terrorists are holding onto their remains
105 Israeli and foreign hostages were released as part of a weeklong temporary truce deal last month that expired on December 1.

The Times of Israel reports that the ICRC has faced harsh criticism both domestically and internationally for failing to press for access to the hostages in order to fulfill its mandate, which includes providing medical care, facilitating family communication, and monitoring their well-being. Israel claims that one of the conditions of the truce last month was for the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages. Spoljaric had a meeting with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in November in Qatar. The ICRC “has persistently called for the immediate release of hostages,” according to a later statement from her office.