Red Cross calls for 'safe' passage into Gaza to treat Israeli hostages

Israeli hostages can only be reached and treated if there is "agreement from both sides" and it is "safe" to do so, the Red Cross has told CGTN Europe. More than 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, said the Israeli prime minister's office and access to them by aid workers has been restricted by the ongoing conflict.

There are many elderly who have chronic illnesses that require daily medications among those being held and their families have petitioned the International Committee of the Red Cross to deliver medicine and inspect their conditions.

But the Red Cross says Hamas has denied them access, and a spokesperson says that an agreement needs to be put in place between the parties in the conflict.

"We will of course continually call for the immediate release of those held hostage and our access to them," Sarah Davies, of the International Red Cross for the Middle East, told CGTN Europe. "At this time we don't have access to the hostages and what we need in order to access them is an agreement from the parties to the conflict.

"We do not take part in this negotiation, we are not a political organization but for us to have that access for a very complex situation we need a very firm agreement from both sides that this is something they are firm on and that they agree to.

"We are ready for whenever this may be reached to access the hostages, to facilitate another release and provide them, of course, with medications that they may need so that they can also be reunited with their families.    

"It would be impossible to do so and it would not be safe for the hostages themselves to be doing this while there are active armed hostilities ongoing. This is why we need a firm agreement from both sides of the conflict. We are ready to do our part and step in as the neutral intermediary but we do not have political affiliations, we do not have weapons, we cannot kick doors down without this agreement."

It is over 100 days since the current crisis started with Hamas militants entering Israel on October 7 and slaughtering around 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage, according to official Israel figures.

Since then Israel has been bombarding Gaza with missile strikes that has led to a further loss of life of more than 23,000 people. 

In a deal brokered by Qatar and the U.S. that allowed for a brief truce in November, Hamas freed almost half the hostages in return for the release by Israel of scores of Palestinian detainees, as well as an increase in humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza.

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Released hostages have described dire conditions in Hamas captivity, including torture, sexual assault and lack of vital medicines. Davies emphasized that the only way out of the present crisis is for there to be a "diplomatic solution."

"The impact of this conflict already is going to have ongoing consequences for decades, people's lives have been destroyed, people have lost limbs, they have lost their loved ones. They don't know, they can't think of the future right now because they are so focused on getting through the next minute or the next day," she added.

"What is needed is a diplomatic solution so that civilians at the center of this conflict - they are protected and respected and so things can begin to be slowly rebuilt. There is only so much that humanitarian organizations, international organizations can do because providing assistance, providing supplies on a day to day basis so that people can live is not enough. 

"It is the responsibility of any party to a conflict to ensure that civilians have access to their basic needs, to the essential and that they can live their lives with dignity."  

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