The International Committee of the Red Cross, accused of doing too little for the hostages in Gaza, reminds AFP that it relies on the goodwill of the belligerents. “From time to time we have to tell people that we are not bulletproof. We don’t have superpowers. We can only carry out humanitarian operations if the authorities in a specific region give us permission,” a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Jason Straziuso, told the press agency. The ICRC also says it does not know where the hostages are. “We are not an intelligence service,” his spokesman emphasizes, also reminding us that viewing the hostages without Hamas’s authorization could put them and the humanitarian workers in danger.
In recent days, the vehicles of this 160-year-old organization have been used to transport hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, the ICRC has been the subject of severe criticism. He is accused of not doing enough to free more hostages and of not visiting those still in the hands of Hamas and its allies, while some believe, on the contrary, that he is pressuring Israel should exercise to release more Palestinian prisoners or to enable the flow of more aid to Gaza.