Republican lawmakers are demanding accountability from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after disturbing videos showed two Israeli hostages—21-year-old Rom Braslavski and 24-year-old Evyatar David—emaciated and nearly naked in Hamas captivity. Critics say the Red Cross is abandoning hostages in violation of its mission.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the images “shocking… reminiscent of Nazi crimes” and urged Red Cross president Julien Lerisson to intervene for the 49 hostages still held in Gaza. Nearly two years after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the ICRC has yet to provide medical care or food to those captives.
“The ICRC is abandoning the very people it was established to protect,” a senior Trump administration official said. “It’s shameful that the Red Cross is still standing on the war’s sidelines while civilians are starved and tortured in captivity.”
Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) accused the organization of moral failure: “The video released by Hamas… illuminates an alarming lack of moral clarity by those nations condemning Israel while offering recognition of Palestine.”
Critics also highlight the Red Cross’s participation in hostage release ceremonies with Hamas, where it appeared on stage alongside terrorists—often the first time its staff met the captives after years in confinement.
As Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, noted: “The Red Cross has shamed itself beyond repair… This is not neutrality. It is complicity.” He urged the U.S., its largest donor, to reassess funding and consider legal avenues for victims to sue the ICRC.
