The president of the ICRC asks for support from “all states with influence” to achieve an agreement between Israel and Hamas

Points to a global crisis of International Law and regrets that the next war “could be too big to manage”

June 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, has asked this Wednesday for support from “all States with influence” to ensure that the authorities of Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) reach an agreement that ends to violence and allows humanitarian organizations to do their work on the ground.

“We need the support of all those who can have an influence on either side. We need them to urge or pressure them to reach an agreement,” he said regarding an agreement that, in his opinion, “should have been reached ago.” time”.

“Without this agreement, we will not be able to increase our area of ​​humanitarian work. But this agreement will not come if the States do not exert influence on the opposing parties directly,” he stated during an interview with Europa Press within the framework of his visit to Spain. to attend the annual meeting of the ICRC donor group.

In this sense, he has asked to avoid leaving all responsibility in the hands of humanitarian organizations and has highlighted the importance of the role of the international community. “States have to exercise their power, use the means they have, the relationships they have, so that we can do our work. We cannot work in a way that is alien to political decisions,” she asserted.

Furthermore, he recalled that access to vulnerable populations continues to be one of the main problems faced by humanitarian workers globally, as well as access to prisoners and detainees.

“Access is becoming increasingly complex and dangerous, even for our staff, who are unable to reach the areas they need to reach. “What we need, in the end, is better respect for international humanitarian law. Because where the law is respected (…), it is easier to do our job,” he added.

Spoljaric, who has been at the head of the ICRC for a year and a half, a period of “continuous challenges”, has stressed the importance of “remaining neutral.” “We have to continue talking to everyone. I was in Doha more than once talking to the political leader of Hamas. I was in Israel, I talked to them. I have personally spoken in many places around the world with the leaders of different states. Having that dialogue with parties, this direct dialogue at all levels is important,” he highlighted, without forgetting that “it is equally important that this dialogue remains confidential.”

Likewise, he has described the humanitarian situation in the Strip as “horrible.” “I visited Gaza in December (…) and then it was impossible to imagine how something that was so bad could continue to deteriorate so quickly,” she said. “We think about the Palestinian civilians trapped in Gaza, about the hostages trapped in Gaza… We cannot offer them meaningful assistance. We cannot achieve their release if the parties do not reach an agreement,” he noted.

“These negotiations have to reach a conclusion so that we can increase humanitarian assistance and fulfill our mission. We facilitated the release of hostages in November. Why can’t we go back? It is because the parties do not agree to the terms, and the parties will have have to reach an agreement sooner or later,” he stated.

INTERNATIONAL LAW, IN CRISIS

Spoljaric, who has had to deal with one of the worst financial crises the organization has faced, has warned that the world is facing a “crisis of International Law”, issues that pose a challenge to the ICRC to time to carry out their missions.

“It is a crisis in which the law is not being respected. Now, the wrong conclusion would be to say that we have to change the law. If a crime is being perpetrated, you would not immediately say that the law is wrong. What we have to do is to prevent crimes, and crimes will be prevented if the law is respected to a greater extent,” he explained.

In this sense, he has emphasized that “a good starting point” requires that governments and leaders worldwide stand up and declare that their priority is “to return to compliance with the law, implement the Geneva Convention and respect it.”

“All States have the obligation to comply with International Law because they have ratified this convention. There is a part that is preventive, which means that even in times of peace you have to train your forces and adapt your legislation to ensure that you are complying with this and other relevant agreements”, he indicated before placing the number of armed conflicts around the world at 120, a figure three times higher than three decades ago.

That is why he has warned that the world is going through a moment of crisis, a crisis of International Law with “very intense wars, which escalate very quickly, with great human, material and environmental costs.” “This trend will not stop unless the parties return to the negotiating table. (…) Without achieving a decrease in violence, I fear that the next war will be too big to manage,” he said.

However, he stressed that the European Union is a great support for the ICRC: “They are one of our three main financiers and are very important politically.” “We have very close cooperation with the European institutions, but also with EU Member States, with the vast majority of them. Some are among our largest partners,” he highlighted.

RECONSTRUCTION OF GAZA

The ICRC considers that the reconstruction of Gaza could take decades due to the large amount of rubble and destruction that exists. “Much of the infrastructure is destroyed and contaminated, so it will require a large amount of financial and political resources to launch the reconstruction process,” Spoljaric argued.

That is why he has highlighted the importance of achieving “stable and flexible” financial contributions and has warned that the generation of children affected by war will take longer to recover “the longer they spend out of schools.”

“The less International Law is respected, the longer it takes to achieve recovery,” he clarified, while expressing that “every day that passes it is more tragic to see that the situation remains the same” in the Gaza Strip. “What we observe today is that the levels of destruction and victims, the levels of trauma, increase in a very short period of time,” he continued, but not before regretting that despite the increase in attention that this conflict has brought, There remains a significant lack of humanitarian access.