The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “increasingly concerned” about the conditions surrounding the release of hostages on Saturday.
The ICRC said they had repeatedly, both in private and in public statements, raised their concerns about the hostage release ceremonies and mass attendance in Gaza – arguing that the release should be “dignified and private.”
“The ICRC is prepared to facilitate further release operations as a humanitarian intermediary in the coming days and weeks,” the organization stated. “The ceasefire agreement must hold so that more release operations can take place and more aid can enter Gaza.”
Scenes recorded of the release of some hostages in the first phase of the ceasefire deal showed mobs of Gazans swarming the hostages.
The Jerusalem Post’s Seth Frantzman assessed that the hostages’ release has become a tool by Hamas to exert control and that it is a display of male chauvinism as a final act of intimidation.
Previous concerns raised on hostage release ceremonies
Israel has previously complained to mediators about the way the release of Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses was handled.“I strongly condemn the horrific scenes witnessed during the release of our hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said then.
“This is yet another testament to the unfathomable brutality of the Hamas terror organization,” he added. “I demand that the mediators ensure that such dreadful scenes are not repeated and [that they] guarantee the safety of our hostages.”
The statement comes after the international organization faced significant criticism in Israel and abroad. Former hostages have critiqued the organization for failing to ensure medicine reached them, while the former ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has accused the organization of covering up Hamas’s crimes.