JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Red Cross to assist in retrieving Israeli civilians and bodies of fallen soldiers held in Gaza by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Netanyahu told the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, that he is concerned that Hamas refuses to release any information about the captive Israelis. He accused the group of “unbelievable cruelty.”
Hamas is believed to be holding the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in a 2014 war, and two Israeli civilians who wandered into Gaza.
At a news conference Wednesday with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Maurer said he is looking to see how the Red Cross can help.
Maurer met with Hamas officials in Gaza and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank on Tuesday.