The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, does not directly criticize the warring parties in the Gaza war. But she appeared extremely concerned about the dramatic situation in the Gaza Strip in SRF’s Saturday broadcast.
SRF News: You describe the situation in the Gaza Strip as extremely dramatic. With regard to the suffering of children, you speak of a “moral failure”.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger: Children are protected under international humanitarian law. There is never a reason why a child should have to suffer so much in an armed conflict, because children are always uninvolved in armed conflict.
Legend:
“Children are protected under international humanitarian law,” says Mirjana Spoljaric Egger.
Reuters/Mohammed Salem
What about the ICRC’s work in the Gaza Strip?
What we need in an armed conflict is access and resources. In situations like Gaza, access is primarily linked to security guarantees. But we’ve been caught in the fire before. We are not bulletproof. My employees are heroes, but they are not superhuman.
It seems obvious that Hamas is not complying with international humanitarian law. What about Israel?
We do not do public attribution. But you see what happens. You see the high number of victims, the hostage-taking and the destruction of the civilian infrastructure.
If we have to assume that both sides massively violated international humanitarian law, what does that mean for the significance of international humanitarian law?
During my travels to various crisis regions, it became clear to me that ignoring international humanitarian law is associated with massive costs. The human suffering and destruction will take decades and cost billions to reverse.
All of these conflicts cannot be resolved through purely military means.
The greatest danger in this polarization is that there is a tendency to no longer accept the suffering of others or to no longer recognize it as equal. When that happens, you also accept the dehumanization of part of the population. This can be prevented by international humanitarian law.
Are you seeing this in the Gaza war?
I’m not saying we’re watching that here. But we must be able to return to dialogue at any time. All of these conflicts cannot be resolved through purely military means. This means that the communication channel must always remain open. International humanitarian law and an organization with the mandate of the ICRC provide this channel.
Does this also mean that Israel’s statement “we will destroy Hamas” doesn’t work?
It has never worked that you could destroy a group or a people and say that was necessary. And it is precisely this experience, “victory at any cost,” that led to the founding of the Geneva Conventions. These represent the strongest universal consensus. Every state is committed to this minimum of humanity.
You have been in office for a year. How are you doing with all these crises?
I have never been so concerned about the state of the world in my life. I think we are at a crossroads where we either return to the primacy of the political and accept that peace solutions can only be found through negotiations. Or we continue to watch as massive destruction and suffering take place.
The interview was conducted by Oliver Washington.