Argentina asks ICRC to help free Gaza hostages

Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero Thursday held a telephone conversation with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger to express the South American country’s interest in “the immediate and unconditional” release of the Argentine nationals held hostage in Gaza by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Cafiero also stressed the “urgent need for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and for an unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid and personnel,” it was reported, as a shipment of humanitarian aid from Buenos Aires is due in Egypt next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Economy Minister and Presidential candidate Sergio Massa distanced himself from the Foreign Ministry’s condemnation of the Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. He did so by echoing a posting on social media by Tucumán Senator Pablo Yedlin: “I once again condemn the criminal terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, I reiterate the absolute right of the State of Israel to defend itself; I ask for the immediate release of the kidnapped. Hamas is hiding behind innocent civilians, who are also its victims. Not like this,” Yedlin wrote. Argentina’s Foreign Ministry recognized Israel’s “right to legitimate self-defense,” but remarked that “nothing justifies the violation of International Humanitarian Law and the obligation to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, without making any distinction whatsoever.” Yedlin’s words were in line with the questioning of the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA) against the criticisms “poured by the Foreign Ministry to Israel”. “The DAIA, the representative entity of the Argentine Jewish community, condemns the criticisms made by the Argentine Foreign Ministry towards Israel for its military response to the criminal terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7,” the Jewish organization said in a statement signed by its head, Jorge Knoblovits, and its secretary general, Alejandro Zuchowicki.

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