The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, arrived in Israel last night and met with relatives of the Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, the organization confirmed today on social media.
Spoljaric "reiterated the ICRC's commitment to the return of all hostages so that they can be reunited with their families or properly buried," the group said in a statement.
The Swiss-Croatian diplomat will spend five days in Israel and the Palestinian Authority territories, and will meet with officials from both sides during her trip.
His trip comes amid the momentum of indirect negotiations between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement that would allow the release of the hostages still in the enclave in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar said the country “has every intention of seeing the hostages released” and that it will soon be known “whether the other side also wants to reach an agreement.”
Shortly before, several Israeli media outlets reported that last night the mediators reached an important breakthrough in the indirect negotiations taking place in Doha (Qatar).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden on Saturday about the negotiations after sending his negotiating team to the Qatari capital.
The possible agreement on the table envisages three phases in which Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be gradually released in exchange for Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails, and would culminate in the reconstruction of the enclave and the establishment of a new government.
Of the 251 kidnapped on October 7, 94 remain in the enclave - 34 of them confirmed dead. There are four other hostages who have been held for years, including two dead soldiers.
In total, 117 hostages have left the enclave alive - 105 during the only truce agreement reached to date - and 8 have been rescued by the Army, which has also recovered the bodies of 40 kidnapped people.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.
Red Cross, you bastard, they never asked to see the kidnapped people
Where was that lady director of the emblematic Red Cross who in a year and a half was not able to show her face until now that Trump comes to power and knows that the exchange is closer than ever. Now she wants to show her double face, what a scoundrel!!!
WHERE WAS THE RED CROSS FOR MORE THAN A YEAR OF WAR, WHY DO THEY ALLOW THEM TO GET INVOLVED? THEY NEVER CARED ABOUT THE HOSTAGES. OUT WITH THE RED CROSS
Why do they let the Red Cross into Israel when it is well known that they did nothing to try to find out the whereabouts of the hostages for their examination? It is incredible that now they want to appear in the photo when they themselves have done nothing. Of course, how can there be an agreement now? They want to be there. Why? Ah, yes, to raise funds for the Red Cross and for them to continue with their anti-Semitic policy. They are hypocrites. The important thing is that we do not believe them anymore.