The Brandeis Center (LDB) signed a joint-letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) asking it to act within its mandate to locate and establish communication with Israeli hostages and prevent violations of International Humanitarian Law by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza. Violations include murdering civilians, using human shields to cover military targets, and publicly displaying the bodies of victims. Thousands of victims continue to stem from the Hamas-Israel war, ignited by Hamas’s October 7 massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis and its abduction of hundreds more. These victims and hostages include Israelis (Jewish and Arab) as well as foreign nationals. Many are women, children, the elderly, and other individuals with special protection under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Read the Brandeis Center’s fact sheet: International Humanitarian Law in Asymmetric Warfare The October 7 terrorist attack constitutes the “persistent violation of human rights and international humanitarian law, including customary law and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.” Many thousands of rockets have been launched towards Israel from the Gaza Strip, which is a violation of basic IHL rules. Terrorists have tortured, dismembered, beheaded, and raped innocent civilians. Victims’ dead bodies have been desecrated and hostages have been used as human shields. These are all clear violations of human rights. While there are civilian casualties on both sides, the IDF is careful to observe IHL rules unlike Hamas. According to the Israel Law Center, the ICRC is refusing to engage on the Israeli hostage crisis even though it has members on the ground in Gaza. The Brandeis Center and partner organizations strongly urge the ICRC to “act in accordance with its mandate to prevent the ongoing breaches of International Humanitarian Law.” They request that ICRC locate and establish communication with kidnapped Israelis to ensure their treatment is in alignment with IHL. ICRC should also seek to ensure that Hamas and other terrorist organizations comply with IHL by, e.g., (i) ceasing the murder of civilians and soldiers, (ii) halting the indiscriminate launching of missiles and rockets into Israel, (iii) stopping the targeted attack on civilians and groups protected under IHL, (iv) ceasing the rape or sexual abuse of Israelis and all the hostages, (v) ending the use of human shields to cover military targets, (vi) ceasing the despicable practice of publicly displaying and mutilating the bodies of murdered victims, and (vii) returning Israeli hostages. By undertaking the following actions, ICRC will help protect the rights of individuals – civilians and soldiers – who have been targeted by Hamas.