The Trump administration should use the July 23 announcement that it is providing more than $200 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to demand that the ICRC “show accountability for its shameful performance during the Israeli hostage crisis,” Rabbi Eric Fusfield, director of legislative affairs at B’nai B’rith International, told JNS.
The U.S. State Department stated that the aid to the ICRC and IFRC will go toward disaster and humanitarian assistance. “Today’s contributions support organizations that respond quickly when disasters strike, provide unparalleled access to people in need in conflict settings, and leverage preexisting worldwide disaster and humanitarian response infrastructure,” it said.
Fusfield told JNS that “the ICRC failed every test with respect to Israelis held captive by Hamas terrorists.”
“They never met with the hostages, never assured them comfort or medical supplies, never demanded proof of life and never did anything to speed their release,” he said. “The ICRC has much to answer for, and the U.S. and the international community should demand those answers.”
A spokesperson for the ICRC, however, said that “from day one, we had called for the immediate release of all the hostages, and for access to them. We had reiterated that hostage-taking was prohibited under international humanitarian law (IHL). We had continuously requested information on them and their health conditions. We continued to do so both publicly and directly with those responsible until the hostages were released.”
The spokesperson noted that “securing access requires the cooperation of all parties involved. When any party to the conflict obstructs or denies access, we cannot simply impose our presence without jeopardizing our principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence. To do so could have also put those held hostage in more danger.”
Professor Gerald Steinberg, founder and president of NGO Monitor, countered such statements, saying “the policies of the International Red Cross, particularly after the Oct. 7, 2023 atrocities, betrayed the principles of neutral humanitarianism. The organization made almost no public efforts on behalf of the Israeli hostages—many of whom were tortured, abused and murdered in Hamas captivity. ICRC personnel also participated in Hamas’s humiliation of hostages before their release.”
These fundamental moral failures, he told JNS, were “compounded by joining propaganda campaigns falsely accusing Israel of causing starvation in Gaza and other biased actions. As a result, the U.S. State Department should have linked resumed funding to changes in top officials and institutional reforms to prevent a repetition of these violations.”
