'We Don't Have Superpowers', Says Red Cross on Criticism over Gaza Response

A Red Cross vehicle, as part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas armed men during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 24, 2023. (Reuters)
A Red Cross vehicle, as part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas armed men during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 24, 2023. (Reuters)
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'We Don't Have Superpowers', Says Red Cross on Criticism over Gaza Response

A Red Cross vehicle, as part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas armed men during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 24, 2023. (Reuters)
A Red Cross vehicle, as part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas armed men during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 24, 2023. (Reuters)

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has faced criticism for not doing enough to release the hostages in Gaza, stresses it has no "superpowers" and relies on the warring parties for access.

"From time to time, we have to tell people we're not bulletproof," ICRC spokesman Jason Straziuso told AFP.

"We don't have superpowers. We can only take humanitarian action when the authorities in a given area give us the permission."

In recent days, amid the temporary truce in Gaza, the Geneva-based organization's vehicles have brought dozens of hostages held by Hamas out of the Palestinian enclave.

On October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200, according to Israeli authorities.

In response, Israel unleashed a severe air and ground military campaign that the Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 in Gaza, mostly civilians including more than 6,000 children.

The ICRC, founded 160 years ago, has been criticized for not taking part in negotiations that led to their liberation, and for not visiting those remaining in captivity in Gaza. It has also faced criticism for not pressuring Israel to liberate more Palestinian prisoners, and for not bringing more aid into Gaza.

Straziuso said much of the criticism showed "a lack of understanding of how we work or the limitations of our work".

"We are not an intelligence agency," he said stressing that “We couldn't possibly just simply start walking through Gaza and trying to locate hostages.”

Such an action, he said, "could directly put the hostages in danger and it could put our team in danger".

Julie Billaud, an associate professor at Geneva's Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, said "The humanitarian organizations in general and ICRC in particular cannot substitute the political work needed" to end this war.

Marco Sassoli, an international law professor at Geneva University, meanwhile explained that if international humanitarian law was being respected, "hostages, unlike prisoners, must be freed unconditionally and without negotiation", he told AFP.

Thus, "the ICRC can offer its services as a neutral intermediary, but it will not negotiate the hostages' liberation".

Ever since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly and publicly questioned the Committee's lack of access to prisoners of war held by Moscow.

Sassoli lamented that there today was "less and less understanding of neutrality", with everyone, including the ICRC, pressured to "take a position and say there are bad guys and good guys".

"If the ICRC only negotiates with good guys, they will have barely anyone to negotiate with in armed conflicts," the professor warned.



Lebanon: Mikati Says Diplomatic Efforts 'Intensify' to Secure Ceasefire

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon: Mikati Says Diplomatic Efforts 'Intensify' to Secure Ceasefire

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday said that diplomatic efforts are ongoing to pressure Israel into halting its offensive on Lebanon.
He said that contacts have “intensified” in the past hours ahead of a session of the United Nations Security Council, aiming once again to achieve a ceasefire and increase pressure to stop the "Israeli aggression" on Lebanon.
He noted that “discussions are ongoing between the United States and France, which has requested the convening of the Security Council, with the goal of reviving a declaration for a temporary ceasefire to facilitate the resumption of talks on political solutions."
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran, and Hezbollah says its attacks are aimed at aiding the Palestinians. Israel has carried out airstrikes in response and the conflict steadily escalated, erupting into a full-fledged war last month.
Israel has inflicted a punishing wave of blows against Hezbollah in recent weeks and says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can return to their homes in the north.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated in mid-September.