The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been accused of abandoning Israeli hostages by not guaranteeing their safety or acting for their release.

On Thursday December 21, Israeli Human Rights NGO Shurat HaDin submitted a claim on behalf of the families of those held hostage to Jerusalem's District Court against the ICRC. The lawsuit accused the Red Cross of failing to fulfil its mandate.

The 24 plaintiffs blame the international aid organisation for failing in its moral and legal duty to visit the kidnapped Israelis held in Gaza, assure their wellbeing and negotiate for their release.

One spokesperson said the Red Cross had “simply been a taxi service for the hostages who have been released.”

According to the lawsuit, the ICRC has a unique mandate in International Humanitarian Law. Shurat HaDin said that the ICRC’s status means it carries the responsibility and obligation to act with due diligence in cases such as the Israeli hostages.

The ICRC's internal policies recognise hostages as some of the most vulnerable “protected persons” in need of its help.

The Geneva based aid agency only began to intervene with the hostages weeks after the kidnapping by Hamas on October 7.

Even after the ICRC intervened, the lawsuit said the aid agency showed little respect to the hostages’ families and did not try to supply medicines to the hostages in need.

Shurat HaDin accused the ICRC of a “passive response” and a “lack of care for the fate of more than 240 Israeli hostages”.

Nitsana Darshan Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin, said: "The ICRC is literally re-living its cruel mistakes from the Holocaust, when it abandoned the Jewish people in its darkest time in history."

"We cannot accept this disregard and disrespect for human lives, just because the hostages are Jewish. The ICRC is simply biased and apathetic to Israeli lives and the suffering of the families.”

Leitner stressed the urgency of the ICRC’s role: “Only this week, we counted six more hostages murdered by Hamas in captivity while the ICRC ignored them. Every minute counts."

There are believed to be 129 people still being held hostage in Gaza, with some of them known to be dead.

Ronn Torossian, a spokesperson who works with the hostages and their families, said: “The Red Cross has simply been non-existent vis a vis our hostages in Gaza. The simple inability to provide medicines or any form of cooperation when it comes to time to help our hostages is unacceptable. They have simply been a taxi service for the hostages who have been released.”

A spokesperson for the ICRC told the JC: “People who were held hostage and their families have gone through a horrific experience, and it is easy to understand their anger and frustration. Since October 7, the ICRC has continuously called for the release of all hostages and for their humane treatment. We have been meeting with Hamas at all levels and undertaking humanitarian diplomacy efforts to gain access to people being held, to be able to visit them, and bring the necessary items, like medicines. As a humanitarian organization, we are pained and frustrated when we do not have access to people who need our help.

“It was a huge relief to facilitate the release of 109 hostages, and we reiterate our call for the release of the remaining ones. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to gain access to people still held in Gaza. The bulk of this work takes place behind closed doors.”