ICRC: Hamas is holding hostages on front line

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is hampered by Hamas’s holding of hostages on the front lines in the Gaza Strip, ICRC Regional Director for Near and Middle East Fabrizio Carboni told RBC, Report informs.

“The specificity of the situation is that hostages are held on the battlefield, on the front line. This is quite unusual. If you look at other world conflicts where the ICRC has visited hostages or prisoners, you will find that they are usually not held on the battlefield,” he said.

According to him, the deployment of hostages on the battlefield makes the work of the organization much more difficult, as it becomes more difficult in terms of security. Carboni also stressed that parties to a conflict are usually less willing to grant access to the ICRC when they are closer to the front line.