PM tells visiting Red Cross chief Hamas ‘cruelly’ holding Israelis

Netanyahu tells the visiting director of the International Committee of the Red Cross that the Hamas terrorist organization continues to “cruelly” hold Israeli civilians and the bodies of slain IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

“You have come at a time when we are concerned with this unbelievable cruelty,” the prime minister tells Peter Maurer in Jerusalem.

“We have the bodies of our slain solider that are being kept — even information about them is being kept — and no less important, we have innocent, defenseless Israeli civilians held in Gaza, that are being kept in a very closed and cruel way.”

Netanyahu thanks Maurer for all of his efforts in trying to resolve the situation and says Israel’s relationship with the Red Cross is very “decent” and “open” under his tenure.

Maurer visited Gaza yesterday in order “to see for myself the impact of this long conflict is having on the lives of ordinary people.”