No help for hostages: Israel’s rocky relationship with the Red Cross

The chaotic scenes at the release of eight hostages in southern Gaza on Thursday has again thrust the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and its role in the conflict into the spotlight.

Surrounded by a mob of onlookers and armed Hamas operatives the hostages, including Israeli civilians Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes, were jostled through the baying crowds towards Red Cross vehicles waiting to transfer them back home.

Despite a mandate to ensure the “utmost to protect the dignity of those being released” — according to Red Cross spokesperson Sarah Davies – officials stood by in their scarlet vests, offering no protection or assistance during the chaotic exchange.

Last week, civilian hostages Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes were handed over to the organisation through a baying crowd in Gaza (Image: Sky News)[Missing Credit]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the release process as “shocking”.

“I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organisation.”

Since October 7, when Hamas took over 240 Israeli hostages, the Red Cross has faced criticism over an alleged failure to act when Israelis are placed in humanitarian peril. While the organisation facilitated the handover of hostages once they were released, it did not visit them at all during their captivity, nor did it provide proof of life or medical supplies as Hamas misinformation concerning their status was published unchecked.

In contrast, during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, the organisation visited the occupied US embassy in Tehran, and in 1996, it provided food and medical supplies to Japanese hostages held by guerrillas in Peru.

A spokesperson defended the organisation’s role, commenting on their actions throughout the war: “Ahead of every transfer, the ICRC emphasises to the parties the importance of ensuring the safety of all those involved, particularly those being released.

"The ICRC does not control the time of the release, the place, or the surrounding environment. The details and logistics are determined by the parties themselves.

"Strict security measures were prepared and taken to minimise the risk to all those involved, recognising that there are aspects out of ICRC control. Specialised ICRC staff, including doctors, were on-hand to provide immediate care as needed.”

They further outlined the challenges the Red Cross faced, including navigating large crowds and managing the risks posed by unexploded ordnance and destroyed infrastructure in Gaza. “From day one, we have called for the immediate release of all the hostages, and for access to them.

"We have reiterated that hostage-taking is prohibited under international humanitarian law. We have continuously requested information on them and their current health condition. We haven’t stopped doing so and will continue until all hostages are released.”

But the apparent lack of intervention in the Gaza crisis led Israel’s then-foreign minister, Eli Cohen, to state that “The Red Cross has no right to exist if it does not succeed in visiting the hostages.”

Hamas fighters escort four Israeli hostages, (L-R) Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev, on a stage holding 'gift bags' (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images

It comes after the organisation expressed concern in October 2023 over the treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, without condemning the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas that same month.

Then, the following month, the organisation’s social media activity was subject to a challenge by the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ).

In a letter to Red Cross president, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, the insitute wrote: “A noticeable emphasis on the Gaza Strip is evident in the content shared by the Red Cross on its social media platforms.

"This is evident in depictions of scenes from Gaza, casualty statistics, and information about victims within Gaza. However, a significant absence exists concerning content depicting the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 and the impact on communities in Israel near the Gaza Strip.”

Likewise, last December, the Israeli NGO Shurat Hadin filed a claim against the ICRC at a Jerusalem court for failing to visit the kidnapped Israelis in Gaza, assure their wellbeing or negotiate their release.

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

But the ICRC’s relationship with Israel has long been fraught with tension. Despite Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service, being active since 1930, the ICRC refused to admit Israel to the Red Cross movement until 2006.

Even then, Israel was allowed to join only on the condition that it could not use a red Star of David emblem in conflict zones.

Indeed, as far back as the Holocaust, the ICRC’s conduct has, by its own admission, fallen short. In 2015, the organisation’s then-president, Peter Maurer, said that the Red Cross had “failed as a humanitarian organisation” during the Second World War, acknowledging that it had not confronted the unique and unprecedented nature of Nazi crimes. He described the ICRC’s actions as “the greatest failure in its history.”

In 1944, the ICRC visited Auschwitz-Birkenau but failed to intervene or acknowledge the systematic extermination of over 1.1 million people, most of them Jews.

Instead, the organisation published a report stating, “We have not been able to discover any trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners.”