Israeli Hostage Held ‘Under Red Cross Offices’ While Red Cross Failed to Visit

"A freed Israeli hostage told Israel’s Channel 12 that he had once been held for 12 hours beneath a Red Cross office in Gaza, and feared that he would be executed — while the Red Cross failed to visit any of the hostages held in Gaza.

The Times of Israel reported (emphasis added):

'Freed hostage Gadi Mozes has told family members that he was held alone for his entire time in captivity, Chanel 12 reports. He and hostage Arbel Yehoud, who were freed together on Thursday, met each other only a few days before release. …

At some points he feared he would be executed. In one instance, he was held in a hot pickup truck for 12 hours under Red Cross offices in Gaza. Though he thought he was being released, he was only being moved. …

Mozes described the chaotic handover to the Red Cross on Thursday as moments of ‘mortal fear,’ and said he worried that he and Arbel Yehoud would be lynched by the mob around them.

Israel has criticized the Red Cross for failing to visit the hostages, despite international law requiring such visits; and has also criticized the Red Cross for participating in Hamas propaganda spectacles during hostage handovers.

The Red Cross claimed in 2023: ‘‘We can only take humanitarian action when the authorities in a given area give us the permission.’..."