World

Red Cross offers help over missing ones

 
GENEVA: The Red Cross said on Tuesday it stood ready in its role as a neutral intermediary to help clarify the fate of those missing after the surprise Hamas assault on Israel.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was ready to help reunite families and called for all hostages to be freed immediately.

Israel pounded Hamas targets in Gaza on Tuesday and said the bodies of 1,500 were found in southern towns recaptured by the army in battles near the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas has held around 150 hostages since its surprise incursion on Saturday.

The ICRC said it was working to support the authorities in identifying missing people, and was “ready to help reunite families and loved ones, clarify the fate of those missing, and evacuate the wounded”.

— AFP