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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Red Cross offers help over those missing in Israel, Gaza conflict

Red Cross offers help over those missing in Israel, Gaza conflict

Published Oct 10, 2023 01:32 pm
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Smoke billows from the Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt during an Israeli airstrike on October 10, 2023. Gaza's border crossing with Egypt, its only one that bypasses Israel, was hit by an Israeli air strike on October 10, 2023 for the second time in 24 hours, witnesses and a rights group said. Witnesses said the strike hit the no-man's land between the Egyptian and Palestinian gates, damaging the hall on the Palestinian side. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

GENEVA, Switzerland– The Red Cross said on Tuesday it stood ready in its role as a neutral intermediary to help clarify the fate of those missing after the surprise Hamas assault on Israel.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was ready to help reunite families and called for all hostages to be freed immediately.

Israel pounded Hamas targets in Gaza on Tuesday and said the bodies of 1,500 Islamist militants were found in southern towns recaptured by the army in battles near the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas has held around 150 hostages since its surprise incursion on Saturday -- among them children, elderly and young people who were captured at a music festival where some 270 died.

"Killing civilians and ill-treatment are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. In addition, the conventions demand that the wounded and sick are cared for," said ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric.

"People detained must be treated humanely and with dignity. Hostage-taking is prohibited under international humanitarian law and hostages should be immediately released unharmed."

She said the ICRC, which has been permanently present in Israel and the Palestinian territories since 1967, was "ready to do everything we can to help, including in our role as a neutral intermediary".

The ICRC said it was working to support the authorities in identifying missing people, and was "ready to help reunite families and loved ones, clarify the fate of those missing, and evacuate the wounded".

Spoljaric said she was "extremely concerned" about the suffering families who have lost contact with loved ones and were now in a "devastating situation".

The ICRC said that without immediate restraint, the conflict was heading towards a humanitarian disaster in which civilians would pay the highest price.

"All sides must exercise restraint and protect civilian lives and property," Spoljaric said.


 

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