GENEVA: The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday termed the conflict in Gaza as a moral failure of the global community and called upon Israel and Hamas to reach a new deal to halt the conflict.
ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric talking to journalists in Geneva after concluding a trip to the Gaza Strip and Israel, said the international community has failed to end suffering of the people in Gaza and this will have an impact on generations to come.
She said there is nothing without an agreement by the two sides, so they should keep negotiating.
The war was paused for seven days as a result of a Qatar- US brokered deal during which Hamas released 110 captives in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed last week that new negotiations were under way on captives’ issue, after a source said Israel’s intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar.
ICRC chief said that at the current level of hostilities, a meaningful humanitarian response remains extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Her remarks come as the ICRC released a new four-year strategy after avoiding a liquidity crisis this year amid surging humanitarian requirements.
The organization is cutting around 4,000 posts this year and next to reduce the burden of costs, Spoljaric said. She said that the organization remains committed to its core role as an impartial go-between for warring parties.
Under the new strategy, spending will increase in 2024 the occupied Palestinian territories, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Haiti due to growing violence, but fall in Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan and Ukraine, a spokesperson said.
