ICRC Archives - CrossFireArarbia

‘No Need For Your Crocodile Tears’

Heba
August 13, 2026

By Ismail Al Sharif

“I’ll say it frankly: We should have exerted more pressure on Israel to adopt a different approach in Gaza” – Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to ex-President Joe Biden.

A striking phenomenon is recurring in American politics: Some presidents, cabinet members, and senior officials become more outspoken in their stances toward the Israeli occupation entity after leaving office, expressing regret for decisions that contributed to the injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people.

This may be due to their liberation from diplomatic and partisan constraints, the pressures of Zionist lobbies, and the influence of tainted money, or perhaps their consciences awaken belatedly as they feel closer to death, realizing the enormity of the injustice they participated in or condoned.

Examples of this are numerous. Among the most prominent is former US President Jimmy Carter, who, after leaving office, shifted from a traditional pro-Zionist rhetoric to criticizing the Israeli occupation and its policies. Then there is Chuck Hagel, former US Secretary of Defense, who held the United States responsible for the Zionists’ continued aggression and described their practices as terrorism— but only after his retirement, of course.

Robert Gates, the former Secretary of Defense, also criticized war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him ungrateful.

More recently, Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor, and Antony Blinken, Biden’s lackluster Secretary of State, joined the ranks of those who have expressed regret. Both men have blood on their hands from the blood of Palestinian children and played a shameful role in supporting the Israeli entity during one of the greatest acts of genocide in modern history.

This was revealed in a lengthy investigation published in The New Yorker magazine last 20th July, titled “How Biden Enabled Israel’s Aggression Against Gaza – and Iran,” with the subtitle: “Top officials from the previous Administration now express regret over their failure to rein in Netanyahu.”

However, this regret will not absolve them for they knew full well that the Zionists were committing genocide in Gaza. On 5 March, 2024, five months after the start of the genocide, Mirjana Spoljarić, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), sent a confidential letter to President Biden. The ICRC, in addition to its humanitarian mission, is obligated under the Geneva Conventions to provide states with information and advice to help them avoid committing war crimes.

In her letter, Spoljarić reminded President Biden that the organization had condemned the “horrific” massacre perpetrated by Hamas against Israelis on 7 October 2023 and that it had continued to press the movement “tirelessly” for the release of the “hostages” it was holding.

However, this time she appealed to Biden with “grave concern,” warning that Israel, which had continued to bombard Gaza with heavy munitions since that October, was ignoring the ICRC in an unprecedented manner.

In her letter, she wrote: “The way Israel conducts hostilities is inconsistent with the laws of armed conflict, particularly the obligations to protect civilians, to distinguish between military objectives on the one hand and civilians and civilian infrastructure on the other, to ensure the humane treatment of detainees and the dead, to protect medical facilities and personnel, and to provide and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.”

Despite these clear warnings, the United States remained a key partner in the genocide, providing weapons, money, and political and international cover to Israel. And now some of its officials come to shed crocodile tears for the children of Gaza!

I say to them: You have no right to repent now, after all these martyrs, after all these tragedies, to say: “We are sorry, we made a mistake.” You knew, and you had the power to pressure and prevent, but you chose to support, arm, and cover up. You bear the burden of what happened, and the blood of the children of Gaza will haunt you and pursue your names to the dustbin of history.

This piece by Ismail Al Sharif was originally published in the Arabic Addustour daily and reprinted in English in Crossfirearabia.com.

News

Amidst Hamas Fighters 4 Female Israeli Soldiers Release

CrossFireArabia
January 25, 2025

In a dramatic display of power, elite fighters from the Palestinian resistance group Hamas appeared with Israeli Tavor rifles during the handover of four female Israeli soldiers in Gaza City.

The rifles, reportedly seized during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israeli military bases and settlements near Gaza, were prominently featured on podium set up at Palestine Square in Gaza City to hand over the four soldiers.

“Hamas chose to include fighters from an elite unit carrying Tavor rifles from the Israeli army’s elite unit during the handover process,” Amir Bohbot, a military correspondent for the Israeli news web Walla, said, citing a military source.

“These rifles were most likely seized on Oct., 2023,” he added.

Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers early Saturday under the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.

The freed soldiers are members of the Israeli army’s surveillance unit at the Nahal Oz base.

The four freed soldiers wearing the Israeli military uniform smiled and waved on a stage set up at the square as they were transferred to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“The handover event organized by Hamas was meticulously planned and executed at Palestine Square in Gaza City,” the Israeli Channel 12 said.

“Hamas exploited this dramatic moment to convey propaganda messages, erecting a platform in the middle of the square with symbols of the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service, along with a Hebrew headline: ‘Zionism will not win’.”

Message of superiority

The Israeli channel said long convoys of armed men from Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups streamed into the square since early morning.

“Activists carrying weapons and organization flags were positioned around the central platform in a pre-planned formation to create an image of victory for the cameras broadcasting the release of the captives to the entire world,” it added.

“The carefully chosen setting and decor – Israeli symbols and Hebrew inscriptions – show a planned effort by Hamas to turn the ceremony for the release of the female soldiers into a propaganda show,” the channel said.

“Hamas invested significant resources in designing the square, with the aim of conveying a message of control and superiority.

“The female soldiers were brought to the podium, where they held each other’s hands, smiled and waved,” the channel commented.

Some 200 Palestinian prisoners are also scheduled to be released on Saturday in exchange for the four freed Israeli soldiers.

Under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire day, Israel is planned to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor area that separates northern Gaza from its south, allowing displaced Palestinian to return to their areas in northern Gaza.

The first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 47,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 111,400 since Oct. 7, 2023.

On the first day of the ceasefire, Israel released 90 Palestinian detainees in return for three Israeli captives set free by Hamas.

The three-phase ceasefire agreement includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

News

EU Chief Condemns ICRC Office Shelling in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
June 22, 2024

Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, says the European Union condemns the shelling of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) office in Gaza by Israel.

The shelling led to dozens of casualties. Borrell called for an independent investigation to hold those responsible for the shelling.

The EU condemns the shelling which damaged the @ICRC office in #Gaza and led to dozens of casualties.

An independent investigation is needed and those responsible must be held accountable.

Protection of civilians is an obligation under Geneva Conventions.

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— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) June 22, 2024

He said that protection of civilians is an obligation under the Geneva Conventions adding the ICRC must be able to carry out all it Geneva Conventions duties in safety, including humanitarian protection, assistance to the victims and access to safety.

In a statement by the ICRC office is stated that “heavy-caliber projectiles landed within meters of the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Friday, afternoon.”

Deeply concerned by heavy-calibre shelling that damaged our #Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians.

Parties to the conflict have the obligation under #IHL to take all precautions to avoid harming civilians incl. humanitarian staff and facilities. https://t.co/ZrzxCsZ61r
— Gilles Carbonnier (@GCarbonnierICRC) June 22, 2024

It added “the strike damaged the structure of the ICRC office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents, including many “of our Palestinian colleagues.”

The statement went on: “This incident caused a mass casualty influx at the nearby Red Cross Field Hospital. The hospital was receiving 22 killed, 45 injured and reports of additional casualties.”

The ICRC have called this as a “grave security incident” as “one of several in recent days”, adding that “previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structure.”