World · Middle East · 19 hrs ago
Red Cross chief says earlier pressure could have saved more hostages
Hamas seized 251 hostages during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and took them to Gaza.
They were released in several deals over the next two years, with the last release in October 2025.
Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said pressure in negotiations should have come earlier and could have saved more lives.
Of those abducted alive, 40 died in captivity, according to the story.
The Red Cross was unable to visit the hostages, and Israel faced criticism over its failure to secure such visits or provide them with aid.
Israel also barred Red Cross visits to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, but a court ruled the ban invalid, and the issue is beginning to be resolved.
Spoljaric said Israel has a legal obligation to allow those visits under the Geneva Conventions.
International Committee of the Red Cross chief Mirjana Spoljaric said earlier pressure in negotiations could have saved more hostages taken to Gaza.
She said hostages should have been returned unconditionally from the first day, but that the ICRC had to work with the tools available.
The 251 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7, 2023, were released in deals over two years of war, with the last released in October 2025.
Of those abducted alive, 40 were killed in captivity, according to the Times of Israel.
Spoljaric also said Israel had a legal obligation to allow Red Cross visits to Palestinian prisoners in its jails.
- Who
- Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, discussed hostage negotiations and prisoner visits.
- What
- She said earlier pressure to release hostages could have saved more lives.
- When
- In an interview published Saturday; the article was published on October 11, 2026.
- Where
- The hostages were held in Gaza. Spoljaric’s interview was with The New York Times.
- Why
- Spoljaric said the longer hostage releases took, the more complicated they became.
Israel
International Committee of the Red Cross
ICRC’s work for hostages
Israel
Israel criticized the ICRC for failing to secure meaningful aid for hostages held in Gaza.
International Committee of the Red Cross
Spoljaric said the ICRC sought to push Israel and Hamas to prioritize releases and that pressure should have come earlier.
Visits to Palestinian prisoners
Israel
Israel blocked the ICRC from visiting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails; the article says the ban was imposed in retaliation for the ICRC’s failure to secure aid for hostages.
International Committee of the Red Cross
Spoljaric said Israel had a legal and, in her view, moral obligation to allow visits.
I personally think that the pressure should have come earlier in the negotiations.
We could have saved more lives.
Visiting hostages is much more complicated than bringing them back.
And in my opinion, they should have come back unconditionally as of Day 1.
Hamas seized 251 hostages.
The hostages were released in several different deals.
The last of the hostages was released.
- Hostages seized
- 251
- Date of seizure
- October 7, 2023
- Hostages killed in captivity
- 40 of those abducted alive
- Last hostage release
- October 2025
- ICRC chief
- Mirjana Spoljaric
Sources
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