The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, arrived in Israel last night and met with relatives of 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 given a proper burial,” the group detailed in a message.
The Swiss-Croatian diplomat will spend five days in Israel and the Palestinian Authority territories and, during her trip, she will meet authorities from both sides.
His trip takes place in the midst of indirect negotiations between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement allowing the release of hostages still in the enclave in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
This Monday, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar assured that the country “has every intention of seeing the hostages released” and that we will soon know “if the other party also wants to reach an agreement”.
Shortly before, several Israeli media had published that the mediators had made significant progress yesterday evening in the indirect negotiations underway in Doha (Qatar).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden about the negotiations yesterday, after sending his negotiating team to the Qatari capital on Saturday.
The possible deal envisaged envisages three phases during which Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be gradually released in exchange for Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israeli prisons, and would culminate in the reconstruction of the enclave and the establishment of a new government.
Of the 251 kidnapped on October 7, 94 captives remain in the enclave, of whom 34 are confirmed dead. There are four other hostages for years, including two dead soldiers.
A total of 117 hostages left the enclave alive – 105 during the only truce agreement reached so far – and 8 were rescued by the army, which also rescued the bodies of 40 kidnapped people.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.
