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ICRC to Asharq Al-Awsat: Israel, Hamas Do Not Allow Us to Visit Detainees

Girls carrying food containers in a temporary camp in Rafah, near the border with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)
Girls carrying food containers in a temporary camp in Rafah, near the border with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)
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ICRC to Asharq Al-Awsat: Israel, Hamas Do Not Allow Us to Visit Detainees

Girls carrying food containers in a temporary camp in Rafah, near the border with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)
Girls carrying food containers in a temporary camp in Rafah, near the border with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli authorities have suspended visits to Palestinian detainees in its prisons, while Hamas movement has not allowed visits to the Israeli hostages.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Fabrizio Carboni, Regional Director of the Red Cross for the Middle and Near East, described the situation in Gaza, about 4 months after the start of the war, as “catastrophic,” in light of the collapse of the health system and the entire power network.
Carboni stressed that the psychological impact of the war on the residents of Gaza, especially children, was one of the cruelest dimensions of this conflict, noting that the population will have to carry it for years.
He praised what he described as “distinguished cooperation” between the ICRC and Saudi Arabia, noting that the financial and political support provided by the Kingdom allowed the Red Cross to work in complex areas around the world.
The Regional Director of the ICRC emphasized that the West Bank and Gaza are occupied territories, and that the Palestinians who live there are protected under the Geneva Conventions, and therefore are entitled to enjoy basic rights and guarantees without discrimination.
In the interview, Carboni also spoke about the challenges facing the Red Cross teams in Gaza, the committee’s position on the case filed by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice, and other files.
The cruelty of the conflict and its psychological dimensions
“The situation in Gaza, after 4 months of intense violence, siege, and limited access to humanitarian aid, is catastrophic, because people cannot receive basic services,” he said.
“Many people are injured, other than those who were killed. Furthermore, something that is difficult to capture is the psychological impact of this violence - the fear, anxiety and sadness of having to live in your own home seeing friends and family members killed and injured (...) Imagine living in constant fear of being at the wrong time or place and being harmed, injured or killed”, he added.
Carboni expressed his belief that the most devastating aspect of the psychological impact of war is people’s fear for their children.
“This is perhaps one of the cruelest dimensions of this conflict. This will have an impact on generations of Palestinian people who have lived through this catastrophic moment,” he stated.
Collapse of the health system and the entire power network
In addition to the destruction of infrastructure, the lack of security and safety prevented people from accessing hospitals, schools and protected shelters, according to the ICRC official.
Carboni spoke of severe damage to the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, and said: “It is not only the health system that is collapsing, but rather the entire energy system, the complete energy supply, and the provision of water to the people. All this was damaged. The situation is truly alarming and intolerable, and when we look at the state of the infrastructure, it is difficult to imagine how this conflict with such a level of intensity and violence can continue without taking more seriously the situation of the civilian population in Gaza. Therefore, I call on all parties to respect the population and spare them this unacceptable level of violence.”
Carboni praised the courage and resilience of health workers in Gaza, who “have been working for 4 months in a very difficult situation, doing real work and paying a heavy price for it.”
Distinguished partnership with Saudi Arabia
The Regional Director of the Red Cross in the Near and Middle East explained that the International Committee has a distinguished partnership with Saudi Arabia, noting that the King Salman Relief Center funded part of their work in Gaza, in addition to partnerships in Sudan and many other regions.
Carboni highlighted cooperation with the Kingdom to develop a common understanding of how to respond to humanitarian situations around the world.
He said: “We have had a distinguished dialogue with Saudi Arabia over the past years, and we have received very tangible political support in conflicts and humanitarian issues, which has allowed us to work in complex areas.”
He continued: “When we face difficulties in some countries, we know that we can always involve Saudi Arabia and all its representatives in Riyadh, Geneva, and New York to deal with these issues. We have an important financial partnership, but also the political partnership is more crucial from my point of view.”
“Our employees are victims of the conflict in Gaza”
Speaking about the challenges facing the Red Cross teams in Gaza, Carboni stressed that Gaza City is a large battlefield that cannot be easily covered.
“Our employees are stuck in a place they should not be due to violence, which threatens their safety and security,” he said.
The second challenge in Gaza, according to Carboni, is that employees are “victims of the conflict, displaced and exposed to bombing and lack of fuel, water and food.”
He added: “Gaza is a very difficult environment. Even if we do our best (...), it will never be enough because of the scale of the humanitarian crisis.”
War crimes
In response to a question about whether the killings of civilians in Gaza constitute Israeli war crimes, the ICRC Regional Director said that the killing, injury and displacement of civilians, and all intentional and active violence that targets neutral citizens, whether in Gaza or Israel, were unacceptable.
“We expect all necessary precautions to be taken to avoid civilian casualties,” he underlined.
On South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding Israeli crimes in Gaza, Carboni reiterated that the ICRC was not entitled to comment on such questions.
“We focus on the violation of international law and the consequences for people, and we raise these topics in our confidential dialogue with the parties to the conflict. We reiterate that the West Bank and Gaza are located within the occupied territories. Palestinians living in these areas are protected under the Geneva Conventions and are therefore entitled to enjoy basic rights and guarantees without discrimination,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Hostage exchange efforts
Regarding the latest efforts to achieve a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel, Carboni said: “We are not part of any dialogue between the two parties to reach an agreement and allow the release of hostages and detainees. These are political negotiations in which we do not participate. We engage in the humanitarian dimension after the agreement.”
Preventing the Red Cross from visiting detainees
The ICRC regional director spoke about the committee’s long history of visiting Palestinians detained by Israel, and said: “We also facilitate family visits, and if we take the first six months of 2023, more than 29,000 visits from family members were enabled through the Red Cross.”
But he added: “Since Oct. 7, the Israeli authorities have taken a decision to suspend visits through the International Red Cross. We regret that and we continue to talk to those concerned to resume these visits. It is also regretful that Hamas did not allow us to visit its hostages, and in both cases..., this is completely unacceptable. We hope that we will be able to reach those people as soon as possible.”

 

 

 

 

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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.