Team News Riveting
Jerusalem, October 15
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has demanded Hamas to grant immediate access to Israelis citizens taken hostage by the terrorists.
The ICRC said on Sunday that it is speaking directly with senior Hamas officials. “We are speaking with Hamas at the highest levels, face-to-face,” said Sarah Davies of ICRC Israel and the Occupied Territories. “The plight of loved ones being held hostage is one of our top priorities. We are making demands to see them. We are asking that they be able to contact family members.”
“We are calling for immediate access to those taken hostage, so we can check on their well-being and contact their panicked families who are desperate for news,” she said. “And we have made it clear that we are ready to facilitate any eventual release.”
Davies said that the ICRC immediately offered its support to Israeli officials on October 7, the day of the attack, and is in regular communication with them.
Hamas-led terrorists who invaded southern communities in Israel last Saturday killed more than 1,300 people and took hostage some 150-200 into Gaza. The abducted included babies, young children, women and the elderly.
Davies said that the organization would continue its efforts. She also emphasized that “all forms of sexual violence, when committed in the context of armed conflict either international or non-international, constitute violations under international humanitarian law.”
Footage shared by Hamas on the day of the attack showed evidence of violent rape by the terrorists, including a female soldier being pulled out of a jeep with the seat of her sweatpants covered in blood.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Thursday that Hamas raped women in the attack. He added that the terrorists kidnapped an 85-year-old woman and whisked away on a buggy.
