In a controversial ruling, Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered the government to restore Red Cross access to Palestinian security prisoners, overturning a policy imposed after the October 7 Hamas massacre.

The ban was introduced after Hamas refused to allow Red Cross visits to Israeli hostages held in Gaza, many of whom endured months of captivity without any international oversight. The court ruled that the government failed to provide a sufficient legal basis for continuing the restriction and stated that Israel must once again permit visits and the transfer of information regarding prisoners.

The decision is expected to ignite fierce public debate, with critics arguing that terrorists linked to the deadliest attack in Israel’s history are now being granted rights and protections that Hamas systematically denied to Israeli hostages during their captivity in Gaza.

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After conducting examinations, the forensic institute concluded that the materials are not connected to any of the hostages who were murdered and whose bodies remain held by Hamas.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s national forensic institute announced Tuesday that the materials transferred via the International Committee of the Red Cross from Gaza do not belong to any fallen Israeli hostage, despite earlier indications that a body might be returned.

The initial alert came earlier in the day when Israel was informed that the Red Cross had delivered items from Gaza. According to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister, the materials were handed over inside Gaza to a joint IDF and Shin Bet team. The items were received in a formal military setting in the presence of a military rabbi and then transported to Israel for analysis at the National Center of Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Health.

After conducting examinations, the forensic institute concluded that the materials are not connected to any of the hostages who were murdered and whose bodies remain held by Hamas. This determination comes amid repeated attempts by Hamas and other terror groups to manipulate expectations, spread disinformation, and inflict emotional distress on Israeli families.

The developments follow a series of misleading signals in recent days. On Monday, Al Jazeera reported that the Red Cross and Hamas had resumed searches in Jabaliya for the body of a fallen hostage. Those claims generated initial assessments within the IDF that a transfer might take place. Within hours, however, Israeli officials clarified that no such transfer was expected.

The last hostage whose body was returned to Israel was Dror Or, whose remains arrived on November 25. Hamas continues to hold the bodies of two fallen hostages, Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, who are still believed to be in Gaza despite ongoing humanitarian efforts to secure their return.

Hamas’s refusal to return the bodies of the fallen and its attempts to manipulate humanitarian channels is a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and a reminder of the group’s disregard for basic human norms. Israel continues to work relentlessly to bring every hostage and every fallen citizen home and remains determined to withstand the psychological tactics employed by terror groups in Gaza.

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The most recent handover took place on Nov. 25, when the terror group transferred the body of Dror Or. He was buried on Sunday.

By JNS

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday handed over to the Israel Defense Forces “findings” that had been transferred to it by Hamas, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

The possible remains of a hostage were set to be sent to the Health Ministry’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv following a military ceremony with the participation of an IDF rabbi, it stated.

The PMO’s hostage and missing persons coordinator is in “continuous contact with the families of the two deceased captives, and in this difficult hour, our hearts are with them,” the statement continued.

“The effort to bring our hostages home continues without interruption and will not cease until the return of the last captive,” the PMO added.

The bodies of two hostages remained in the Gaza Strip: Israel Police counter-terrorism officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was working in Israel’s south when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded on Oct. 7, 2023.

Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect last month, the Palestinian terrorist organization committed to returning for burial all 28 bodies it was holding, on Oct. 13.

However, Hamas has slow-walked the return of the deceased hostages.

The most recent handover took place on Nov. 25, when the terror group transferred the body of Dror Or. He was buried on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said last week that Hamas must fulfill its obligation, vowing that Israel “will not compromise” until every captive is brought home.

The post Red Cross transfers to Israel ‘findings’ from Gaza appeared first on World Israel News.

The previous handover took place on Nov. 13, when Hamas transferred the body of Meny Godard.

By JNS

Israeli authorities received a coffin, said to contain the body of an Israeli hostage, from the Red Cross in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday afternoon. In the past, Hamas has lied about such remains.

“Israel has received through the Red Cross the body of a deceased hostage that was transferred to an Israel Defense Forces and General Security Agency force inside the Gaza Strip,” Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Hamas is believed to have held three bodies of hostages prior to the handover.

The Israeli military’s rabbi is scheduled to receive the body when it arrives in Israel and to transfer it to the National Forensic Institute near Tel Aviv.

“At the end of the identification process, an official notice will be given to the family,” the prime minister’s office said.

It did not name the hostage, whose remains are believed to have been transferred.

The Israel Defense Forces said that Hamas turned the remains over to the Red Cross at a “meeting point.” The Red Cross delivered the body to Israel.

The IDF “requests that the public act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families,” the Israeli military said.

Earlier in the day, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said that they intended to return the remains of a murdered hostage at 4 p.m. local time.

The previous handover took place on Nov. 13, when Hamas transferred the body of Meny Godard.

The terror organizations’ announcement came minutes after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday that it viewed with “great severity” any delay in releasing the body.

“In light of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s announcement that it has located the remains of a deceased hostage, Israel views with great severity the delay in immediately transferring them to its custody,” it said.

“This is an additional violation of the agreement,” it added. “Israel demands the immediate return of the three deceased hostages, who are still being held in the Gaza Strip.”

Islamic Jihad first claimed on Monday that it had found the remains of a hostage.

“Today, we found the body of one of the enemy prisoners during search operations in areas controlled by the Zionist army in the central Gaza Strip,” the Al-Quds Brigades stated, per AFP reporting.

As of Tuesday morning, the bodies of three murdered hostages remained in Gaza: Israel Police counter-terrorism officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

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For Israel, restricting Red Cross access to terror detainees protects national security; visits could enable communication with external actors, coordination of illegal acts, or receipt of external directions.

By Elizabeth Samson, Middle East Forum

The International Court of Justice’s October 22, 2025, Advisory Opinion on “Obligations of Israel” reveals a moral and legal double standard.

The International Court of Justice labels Israel an occupier while ignoring evidence of terrorist infiltration of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and disregarding the context of Israel’s 2023 Gaza operations.

This framing implicitly legitimizes the October 7, 2023, hostage-taking and the murder of 1,200 Israelis by portraying the captors as opposing an occupying power rather than committing terrorism.

By declaring that Israel must “respect the right of protected persons from the Occupied Palestinian Territory … to be visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the court demonstrates bias and a selective interpretation of international law.

Since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, the International Court of Justice has not issued a single Advisory Opinion on behalf of Israeli civilians abducted into Gaza.

Now, with the last hostages released on October 13, 2025, the International Court of Justice demands Red Cross access to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons.

Its prior silence highlights bias: The court ignores Israeli victims of terrorism while focusing international attention on Palestinian detainees, including terrorists.

The Red Cross itself also demonstrates selective advocacy. The organization has demanded access to Palestinian detainees but did not visit a single Israeli hostage during captivity.

This reversal of humanitarian principles grants rights and oversight to perpetrators while denying protection to innocent victims.

The Geneva Conventions protect civilians and prisoners in conflict, but these protections do not extend to terrorists targeting civilians, and the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion ignores the fact that terrorists are not protected persons.

Common Article 3 prohibits murder, hostage-taking, and attacks on civilians “in armed conflicts not of an international character.”

Civilians abducted by terrorists require protection, while terrorists gain no status simply by detention.

A week after the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion, Israel announced on October 29, 2025, that it would deny Red Cross access to several thousand Palestinian detainees held under its “unlawful combatant” law.

Defense Minister Israel Katz explained, “Visits by the Red Cross to terrorists in prisons would seriously harm national security.”

Although the Red Cross may argue that it has some right to access detainees under the Geneva Conventions, there are legitimate grounds for limiting or excluding access in cases of terrorism and security risk.

Law, policy and principle all justify a restriction on Red Cross access to known terrorists and require strict safeguards before granting access.

Many states distinguish between “lawful combatants” entitled to prisoner-of-war status under the Third Geneva Convention and “unlawful combatants” or terrorists who engage in armed violence without meeting the lawfulness criteria.

The legal status of prisoners shapes the obligation to allow Red Cross access. The United States, for example, denies access to terrorist suspects, holding that they fall outside the Geneva Convention framework.

For Israel, restricting Red Cross access to terror detainees protects national security; visits could enable communication with external actors, coordination of illegal acts, or receipt of external directions.

Standard Red Cross visitation regimes—private interviews, unmonitored visits, and repeated access—could conflict with these security needs and create unacceptable risks. States may legally restrict access when compelling security interests exist.

When conflicts are non-international or involve terrorist groups, detaining states do not automatically have to permit Red Cross visits.

States may condition or limit access provided basic protections for detainees remain. The International Court of Justice’s demands do not override these principles.

On the same day that Israel denied access, its High Court convened to hear a petition asking the government to reinstate Red Cross visits and evaluate obligations under humanitarian and customary international law.

This internal review reflects Israel’s ongoing legal and moral balancing of national security and human rights, demonstrating functioning institutions capable of adjudicating such issues.

Perception matters as much as practice in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Red Cross and International Court of Justice demands for access to Palestinian terrorists, coupled with neglect of Israeli hostages and rejection of Israeli security concerns, undermine humanitarian legitimacy at a critical moment.

The International Court of Justice’s silence on Israeli victims, selective Red Cross advocacy, and international double standards reveal profound hypocrisy.

Victims of terror are ignored, while perpetrators gain attention. International law exists to protect the vulnerable and not shield perpetrators.

Until all civilians’ rights receive equal recognition, Advisory Opinions, humanitarian advocacy, and statehood demands remain hollow and harm the long-term reputations of the institutions that allow political advocacy to trump law.

The post Palestinian terrorists don’t deserve prison visits appeared first on World Israel News.

“We ruled out the possibility that the remains returned last night are linked to any Israeli hostage.”

By JNS

Hamas transferred to Israel the remains of three individuals that do not belong to any of the 11 slain hostages still held by terrorists in Gaza, Israel’s broadcaster Channel 13 reported on Saturday.

The remains, which Red Cross intermediaries handed over to Israel overnight Friday, were examined by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv’s Abu Kabir neighborhood.

The Israel Defense Forces says that at least two bodies of deceased captives can be recovered immediately by the terrorist organization, while Hamas may truly not know the whereabouts of three to five others.

“We ruled out the possibility that the remains returned last night are linked to any Israeli hostage,” an Israeli official told Ynet on Saturday.

“Specifically, this incident does not constitute a violation, since from the outset we assessed with low probability that the remains belonged to hostages. We prefer that Hamas hand over findings so we can verify them. That said, Hamas continues its fundamental violation—the failure to return the bodies of the fallen,” the official added.

According to the ceasefire terms, in cases of uncertainty, remains should be transferred to Israel for verification.

However, Jerusalem believes that Hamas is deliberately slow-walking the return of the deceased hostages to avoid its disarmament, which is set to take place in the second phase of the ceasefire deal with a deployment of an international force in the Gaza Strip.

Instead, the Islamist group is buying time to reassert its control over territory from which the IDF has withdrawn, so it will have greater bargaining power in future talks regarding Gaza’s reconstruction.

The 11 bodies held in the Gaza Strip belong to nine Israelis—Sgt. Oz Daniel, Meny Godard, Lt. Hadar Goldin (whose remains were taken in 2014), Sgt. Maj. Ran Gvili, Col. Asaf Hamami, Staff Sgt. Itai Hen, Capt. Omer Neutra, Dror Or and Lior Rudaeff—Tanzanian agricultural intern Joshua Mollel and Thai agricultural worker Sudthisak Rinthalak.

This past week, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine identified the remains of Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch and notified relatives that the bodies were returned for burial.

Cooper, whom Hamas terrorists kidnapped alive from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he lived, on Oct. 7, 2023, was killed in captivity at age 84. He leaves behind a wife, four children and 11 grandchildren, the IDF said.

Baruch was abducted alive from his Kibbutz Be’eri home on Oct. 7, and Hamas terrorists killed him in captivity on Dec. 8, 2023. He was 25. Baruch leaves behind parents and two brothers, the military said.

“The IDF expresses deep condolences to the families, continues to make every effort to return all the deceased hostages and is prepared for the continued implementation of the agreement,” it said.

“Hamas is required to fulfill its part of the agreement and make the necessary efforts to return all the hostages to their families and to a dignified burial,” it added.

The post Hamas sends three bodies to Israel, none were Israeli captives appeared first on World Israel News.

Citing security threats, Israel’s defense minister signs order banning International Committee for the Red Cross workers from meeting with jailed Arab terrorists, including Hamas terrorists who took part in October 7 massacres.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s defense chief on Wednesday banned members of the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting with jailed Arab terrorists, citing security concerns.

According to a statement by the Israeli Defense Ministry, the decision was made based on recommendations presented by the Shin Bet security agency and after Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) was convinced that allowing such visits would endanger state security.

The blanket ban prohibits ICRC officials from meeting with the thousands of Arab terrorists held in custody under the Law on the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants, including thousands of detainees captured during or after October 7, 2023.

Those detainees include terrorists directly involved in the Oct. 7 massacres.

“The opinions presented to me indicate without any doubt that visits by the Red Cross to the terrorists in prison would seriously harm the security of the state,” said Katz. “The security of the state and of our citizens comes before everything else.”

The decision comes following pressure from within the government and the leadership of Israel’s prison system not to permit the ICRC visits.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has lobbied for a ban on the ICRC visits, a position supported by the Israel Prison Service and its commissioner, Kobi Yaakobi.

In contrast, the National Security Council had opposed a sweeping ban on the ICRC visits, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly backing the NSC’s position.

Netanyahu and the NSC had reportedly favored allowing the ICRC some visitation rights, considering the group a less overtly hostile alternative to United Nations-linked agencies that have also demanded third-party visits to jailed Arab terrorists.

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Hamas terrorists were caught on video staging a recovery scene—digging up a body they’d buried themselves, then calling in the Red Cross to falsely claim they had just discovered it.

The post WATCH: Hamas stages fake hostage body recovery appeared first on World Israel News.

Forensic testing revealed that Hamas returned remains from a hostage already repatriated to Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Forensic testing on Tuesday morning revealed that the remains returned by Hamas overnight — claimed to belong to one of the 13 hostages still held in Gaza — were actually partial remains of a previously deceased hostage whose body had already been repatriated to Israel in an earlier exchange.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip witnessed Hamas terrorists staging the so-called “discovery” of the deceased hostage. The eyewitnesses said Hamas operatives dumped the remains into a freshly dug hole, then called the Red Cross and pretended to have just found the body.

The Red Cross transferred the remains to Israel, where they underwent forensic testing at the Abu Kabir Institute in Tel Aviv. The results confirmed the remains did not belong to any of the 13 hostages still in Gaza but reportedly matched DNA from a hostage already returned to Israel.

The revelation marks more than a week since Hamas last transferred the remains of a deceased hostage, in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The staged discovery and false claim point to an intentional deception by Hamas, apparently aimed at dragging out the process of returning the remaining bodies.

Under Phase One of the Trump-brokered ceasefire, Hamas is required to return the bodies of all deceased hostages it still holds in Gaza.

On Saturday evening, former U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning to Hamas on his Truth Social account, saying he was “closely watching” the situation and giving the terror group a 48-hour deadline to return the bodies.

Hamas has claimed it does not know the location of all the bodies — a narrative Israeli intelligence officials reject.

“This agreement isn’t good—that’s the conclusion. Hamas has no incentive to return all the bodies to Israel. The families are living a nightmare,” said Ruby Chen, father of deceased captive IDF soldier Itai Chen.

“Every night we calculate how long it might take to get news. We thought we’d know something by 2 a.m., but it’s another sleepless night.”

Ronen Neutra, father of IDF soldier Omer Neutra — whose body remains in Hamas custody — echoed that pain.

“It’s nerve-wracking, more than two years of ongoing terror. Everyone has this terrible feeling: How long will it last, and how will it end?”

The post Ceasefire violation: Hamas caught faking hostage return appeared first on World Israel News.

The Red Cross was seen alongside Hamas digging through the rubble in Gaza, searching for the bodies of Israeli hostages, as the terror group continues to drag its feet in returning them.


Hamas and the Red Cross working hand in hand again pic.twitter.com/2v7V02yPSh

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 27, 2025

Hamas operatives seen accompanying Red Cross personnel and Egyptian teams in search efforts for bodies of hostages in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood.

pic.twitter.com/y9ergeR3Cj

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) October 27, 2025

The post WATCH: Red Cross works with Hamas to uncover slain Israeli hostages appeared first on World Israel News.

A truly hostoric day began with live coverage of multiple hostage releases and emotional family reunions, folllowed by a memorable speeches in the Knesset delivered by Trump, Netanyahu, and other Israeli leaders.

https://youtu.be/k4evqTb1YvM

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They are not “impartial humanitarian actors” when accusing Israel of breaking international law for hitting medical facilities as military targets, says NGO Monitor.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Global aid groups were aware that Hamas controlled Gaza’s hospitals long before the current war, according to documents obtained and translated by NGO Monitor.

The watchdog released two declassified reports Wednesday from Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security, dated February and March 2020.

The papers detail Hamas’ strategy of embedding fighters, leaders, and military infrastructure in hospitals and other medical facilities.

The documents described hospitals as “gathering places for many commanders of the movement [Hamas] and the government in times of escalation” with Israel.

They also noted Hamas maintains offices and secure communications inside every hospital.

One report warned that “Doctors Without Borders (MSF) France chose the only room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital that has a (safe) communication landline which belongs to the ‘positive,’” a euphemism for Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, according to NGO Monitor.

NGO Monitor said the records show international organizations knew Hamas was using hospitals but still accused Israel of violating international law when it targeted them.

One document cited the International Committee of the Red Cross as asking, in a 25-page long questionnaire sent to Ministry of Health (MoH) facilities, about “the presence of tunnels, weapons or explosives inside hospitals.”

Medical care facilities are legally designated as protected spaces, explicitly safeguarded from military use. Turning them into hiding places for fighters, command and control stations, and weapons caches make them legitimate military targets, according to international law.

The Arabic-language reports listed more than a dozen NGOs and international agencies that NGO Monitor said submitted to Hamas’ demands, including allowing the Ministry of Health to pre-vet all personnel.

While Hamas wanted to exploit their presence for propaganda purposes, the documents showed that it was very concerned that “hostile parties” among them may gather intelligence against the group while treating patients.

To prevent this, the terrorists tightly controlled the aid organizations’ movements after they arrived, the documents said.

One directive stated that medical delegations could only access certain departments and were barred from areas where Hamas leaders were present.

Another required Hamas security personnel to accompany aid groups and embed Hamas medical staff in their teams, “whether the delegations work in hospitals or their own locations.”

“This arrangement is fundamentally inconsistent with the principle of medical neutrality in Gaza and … raises serious ethical concerns,” NGO Monitor concluded. “Many continue to present themselves as impartial humanitarian actors while concealing the reality of their complicity with Hamas’ security apparatus.”

“They fail to disclose Hamas’ cynical use and violation of humanitarian spaces,” the NPO continued, “nor do they report the conditions imposed upon them and the reasons behind said policy.

“This lack of transparency not only violates the core principles regarding the independence and neutrality of humanitarian aid, but also renders these organizations morally compromised as yet another party in Hamas’ exploitation of medical spaces.”

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The Hamas documents explicitly state the terror group’s position that medical facilities are not neutral spaces but a critical part of its infrastructure.

By JNS

Two Hamas documents found by Israeli forces in Gaza indicate that international organizations such as the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders are well aware of the presence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip’s medical facilities despite obfuscating or outright denying it publicly, NGO Monitor revealed on Wednesday.

The internal Hamas memos were among a cache of documents declassified by the Israel Defense Forces. NGO Monitor translated the Arabic-language documents into English and released them to the public.

“While repeatedly echoing Hamas allegations and condemning Israel’s operations to end the exploitation of hospitals for terror, these groups clearly knew that Hamas exploited these facilities and chose to remain silent,” said Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor.

The documents, dated February and March 2020, not only show Hamas’s deliberate strategy of placing its fighters, leaders and terror infrastructure inside hospitals in Gaza, but reveal that NGOs worked right next to them, in at least one case in an adjoining office.

“The [International Committee of the] Red Cross chose a wing in Al-Shifa medical complex that is adjacent to the [Hamas] movement offices,” notes the February 2020 document.

The memo also notes that the French branch of Doctors Without Borders “chose the only room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital that has a (safe) communication landline.”

The Hamas documents explicitly state the terror group’s position that medical facilities are not neutral spaces, but a critical part of its infrastructure.

“Furthermore, these health facilities are a place of gathering for numerous leaders of the [Hamas] movement and the government during times of escalation,” the February memo said.

The memos, which originate with Gaza’s Interior Security Mechanism (ISM), an official body in the Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS), raise concerns about the Gaza Health Ministry authorizing NGO operations in Gaza without first consulting Hamas’s security apparatus.

The February memo, from ISM’s Branch of Foreign Associations, is addressed to Colonel Ayman Rouqa, head of the Division of Foreign Activity, which oversees foreign NGOs and U.N. agencies.

The March memo is from an unidentified source to the deputy director of ISM’s Intelligence Affairs Sector (IAS), which manages intelligence and counterintelligence operations.

The documents chiefly focus on Hamas’s worries that foreign NGOs working in the hospitals could provide an opening for Israeli intelligence. They seek to bring the Health Ministry’s NGO-related decisions in line with Hamas’s larger security and intelligence priorities.

The solution was to call for tighter control of foreign medical delegations in Gaza—restricting their movements, pre-approving staff, dictating NGO operations and assigning security escorts.

As a result, NGOs were forced to operate on Hamas’s terms, “making them complicit in a system” that exploits medical centers for terrorist purposes, according to NGO Monitor.

Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor’s legal adviser, told JNS that it’s beyond belief that the Red Cross and other groups can continue to claim ignorance of Hamas activities in Gaza hospitals.

“The documents show they had to report to Hamas. They had to provide Hamas the names of those working for them. They knew they were being monitored by Hamas,” she told JNS.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Doctors without Borders continue to issue public statements condemning Israel for targeting hospitals, but with no mention of Hamas’s use of those facilities.

JNS reached out to the ICRC and Doctors without Borders for comment.

The ICRC was asked for any statements it had issued about Hamas’s use of medical facilities, and whether it acknowledged that Hamas exploits hospitals. An ICRC spokesman told JNS via email only that “international humanitarian law (IHL) states that all parties to the conflict must respect and protect medical facilities and personnel.”

Asked if it had undertaken an investigation into claims that Hamas is operating from hospitals in Gaza, the organization told JNS it “does not undertake investigations but raises allegations and concerns directly with the relevant parties to conflicts.”

It added that the ICRC “reminds the parties to conflicts of their obligations, in a bilateral and confidential manner.”

According to Herzberg, it is “disingenuous” for the ICRC to claim it raises concerns confidentially as it condemns Israel repeatedly in public statements for targeting hospitals while remaining silent about the reason it does so—Hamas is weaponizing them.

The ICRC acknowledges on its website that medical facilities are only protected under international law so long as they aren’t used for hostile activities.

“Medical establishments and units enjoy protection because of their function of providing care for the wounded and sick,” the ICRC site notes.

“When they are used to interfere directly or indirectly in military operations, and thereby cause harm to the enemy, the rationale for their specific protection is removed.”

By using hospitals as gathering points and command centers, Hamas endangers those facilities and puts them at risk, said Herzberg. “They’re turning them into military objectives,” she added.

A spokeswoman for Doctors without Borders, asked by JNS to supply past statements regarding Hamas’s use of such facilities, said she had none, but directed JNS to the group’s website, which denies any knowledge of Hamas activity.

“MSF [Medicins sans frontieres] has no direct information that Hamas fighters are using hospitals in the Gaza Strip for military purposes,” the site says.

“If we had been made aware of the presence of Hamas military bases and fighters in the hospitals where we work, we would not have maintained activities there for obvious reasons of responsibility and the safety of our teams.

“It is also important to understand that MSF teams only work or have worked in part of the large hospital complexes such as Al-Shifa and Nasser,” it added.

The Hamas memos specifically mention Al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals.

For Herzberg, worse than the fact that these NGOs maintain silence about Hamas’s operations is that “they’ve been corrupted. They’re pushing disinformation.”

Covering for Hamas only encourages the terror group to continue using hospitals as human shields, she continued. When these NGOs were told they would have to report to Hamas, “they should have been principled and refused to work there anymore,” she added.

Even setting aside that it was obvious for decades that Hamas treats hospitals as part of its terror infrastructure, Herzberg said it became impossible to deny after the closed-caption TV (CCTV) footage emerged in November 2023 showing Hamas ushering hostages through the halls of Al-Shifa hospital.

Last month, former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky recounted to the U.N. Security Council how she was held, along with other hostages, at Nasser hospital.

“They took us through the back entrance and walked us past all the civilians. In the hospital, there was an area that was closed off and used only by Hamas, with an armed guard,” Gritzewsky told the U.N. body. “They locked us in a room, where we met a third hostage.”

Of those groups keeping silent about Hamas’s conduct, the ICRC angers Herzberg the most.

“They claim to uphold international humanitarian law. They’re the ones holding themselves to a certain standard. They’re clearly not living up to it,” she said.

The post Memos point to Red Cross knowledge of Hamas presence in Gaza hospitals appeared first on World Israel News.

The initial Red Cross visit allows terrorists to designate a bank account for payments by signing a power of attorney form.

By JNS

Palestinian Media Watch accused the International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday of playing a significant role in the Palestinian Authority’s “pay for slay” program, saying ICRC visits to imprisoned Hamas terrorists enable them to start receiving monthly stipends from the P.A.

An Aug. 18 hearing at the Israeli Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, on whether Red Cross representatives should be allowed to visit jailed members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force failed to address the fact that the P.A. uses the ICRC to confirm that prisoners are indeed in Israeli custody, PMW said.

“For years, we’ve been warning that Israel’s policy of allowing Red Cross visits to security prisoners has a direct consequence,” PMW Director Itamar Marcus said. “It enables payments to convicted terrorists.

“These payments are banned under Israeli law as they constitute financial support for terrorism,” the Israeli researcher said.

Marcus explained that ICRC confirmation allows terrorists to designate a bank account for payments by signing a power of attorney form, with the process explicitly detailed in Palestinian Authority decrees since 2010.

While the P.A. temporarily suspended the need for Red Cross follow-up visits following Israeli restrictions put in place in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Ramallah maintained its requirement for an initial visit to prevent fraudulent financial claims, Marcus said.

“As a result, allowing these visits effectively enables Hamas terrorists to start receiving their salaries,” Marcus continued, adding that the issue was not raised in the court hearing.

He urged the government to bring this to the attention of the judiciary, stressing that facilitating such payments could place Jerusalem in violation of its own counter-terrorism laws.

PMW warned against the practice in December 2023, but the Red Cross has apparently continued to facilitate payments to terrorist prisoners.

Almost 1 billion shekels ($270 million) yearly goes toward the P.A.’s “pay for slay” policy, Israeli legal proceedings established last year.

P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Feb. 21 that he would not deduct a single penny from the prisoners and the “Martyrs’ Fund,” despite a Feb. 10 statement interpreted by some as ending the controversial policy.

“We again emphasize that we are proud of the sacrifices made by the martyrs, prisoners and wounded,” the P.A. chief declared in a speech.

“I told you once and I stand by my word: Even if we have [only] one penny left, it is for the prisoners and the martyrs,” Abbas continued, echoing previous remarks made during a 2018 address in Ramallah.

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While the global aid group bills itself as the foremost provider of emergency services across the globe, including in active war zones like Gaza, it notably failed its mandate to visit those in Hamas captivity to assess their health.

By Adam Kredo, The Washington Free Beacon

The Red Cross is under fire from GOP lawmakers and officials for failing to advocate on behalf of the remaining Israeli hostages after shocking videos showed two captives, 21-year-old Rom Braslavski and 24-year-old Evyatar David, emaciated and nearly naked.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an emergency phone call Sunday with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head Julien Lerisson after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released the videos, which he characterized as “shocking images reminiscent of Nazi crimes.”

He pleaded with the Red Cross to come to the aid of the 49 remaining hostages, who have languished in captivity as the international aid group does little to help them secure medical care and food.

Officials in the United States share the outrage. They point to hostage release ceremonies from earlier this year, during which Hamas paraded starving Israeli captives before jeering Gazan mobs.

The Red Cross, which boasts of its neutrality, appeared on stage with Hamas terrorists to shake hands and sign paperwork.

In most cases, this was the first time Red Cross staff interacted with the captives after years of confinement—despite its core mission to support hostages and prisoners of war.

A senior Trump administration official told the Washington Free Beacon they were horrified by the recent images and blame the Red Cross for allowing the hostages to suffer in subhuman conditions.

While the global aid group bills itself as the foremost provider of emergency services across the globe, including in active war zones like Gaza, it notably failed its mandate to visit those in Hamas captivity to assess their health.

“The ICRC is abandoning the very people it was established to protect,” the official said. “Almost two years since Oct. 7, it still hasn’t delivered humanitarian aid and medical care to the hostages in Gaza. It’s shameful that the Red Cross is still standing on the war’s sidelines while civilians are starved and tortured in captivity.”

“That the Red Cross keeps shunning aid for the hostages but participates in Hamas’s propaganda ceremonies tells you everything you need to know about whose side they’re on.”

Sen. Ted Budd (R., N.C.), who has advocated for reassessing American aid to the Red Cross in light of its work with Hamas, said the humanitarian organization continues to fail its mission.

“While Israel is somehow blamed, the United Nations and the International Red Cross have utterly failed to distribute food to Gazans and ensure food and medicine reach hostages,” Budd told the Free Beacon.

“The video released by Hamas over the weekend is horrific and illuminates an alarming lack of moral clarity by those nations condemning Israel while offering recognition of Palestine.”

Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it would only consider allowing the Red Cross to access the hostages “if humanitarian corridors were opened into Gaza on a regular and permanent basis, and air strikes halted during the time of receiving aid,” according to the BBC.

While the Red Cross promised a fresh push to visit the hostages after the most recent videos emerged, many inside Israel have lost faith in the aid group’s abilities.

“Once again, when it comes to Jews being kidnapped, raped, starved, and murdered, the Red Cross is simply MIA. What a disgrace,” a former senior Israeli defense official told the Free Beacon.

“For 666 days, they’ve sat on the sidelines while Israeli civilians have been held in Holocaust-like conditions. Either they don’t learn, or don’t care.”

Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, which recently led a campaign to hold the ICRC accountable for its inaction since Oct. 7, said the aid group’s failures stem from a deep-seated bias.

“The Red Cross has shamed itself beyond repair,” he said. “Since Oct. 7, they have utterly abandoned the hostages, failing to see even a single one in captivity as they are starved, tortured, and now forced to even dig their own graves. This is not neutrality. It is complicity.”

As the Red Cross’s “single largest donor,” Ostrovsky said, “the United States should reassess any further funding and enable legislation to allow victims of Hamas’s terror to sue the ICRC over their complicity.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli advocacy group, said in a Sunday statement that their captive “loved ones have been denied medical care, food, and all communication with us for over 660 days.”

“The shocking reality is that the Red Cross has never had access to these hostages during this entire horrific period,” the organization noted.

“The international community must demand the immediate release of all 50 hostages and ensure that until their return home, they receive the medical care they desperately need.”

The post Red Cross under fire after disturbing footage of starved Israeli hostages appeared first on World Israel News.

International organizations, including the Red Cross and World Health Organization, “appalled” by videos showing emaciated Israeli hostages, demand Gaza terrorists immediately free remaining captives.

By World Israel News Staff

International non-governmental organizations expressed shock Sunday night and Monday morning following the release of two hostage videos featuring Israeli captives held by terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday night, the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement saying the group was “appalled” by footage released last week.

A video released last Thursday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group showed hostage Rom Braslavski lying on the floor at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip grimacing in pain while lamenting that he is “at death’s door.”

A day later, Hamas released footage of Evyatar David digging a ditch inside a terror tunnel in Gaza.

Both David and Braslavski appear emaciated in the videos.

“The ICRC is appalled by the harrowing videos published over the last few days of Israeli hostages held in captivity in Gaza,” the Red Cross said.

“These videos are stark evidence of the life-threatening conditions in which the hostages are being held. We know families watching these videos are horrified and heartbroken by the conditions they see their loved ones held in.”

The Red Cross emphasized that the holding of hostages “is strictly prohibited according to international humanitarian law” and demanded that the captives be “released immediately and unconditionally.”

While both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have refused to allow foreign officials to meet with or treat the Israeli hostages, the Red Cross reiterated its call to be “granted access to the hostages.”

“This dire situation must come to an end now,” it stated.

On Monday morning, the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, backed the Red Cross’ call for the hostages’ release.

“We echo the ICRC’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.

“We reiterate that all those being held must receive access to food and medical care and must be treated without any form of humiliation.”

The post ‘Appalling’ – After hostage videos, Red Cross and WHO demand release of Israeli captives appeared first on World Israel News.