French diplomatic source claims Israeli hostages in Gaza received medical supplies sent in 2024

An unnamed French diplomatic source claimed on Wednesday that Israeli hostages, held by terrorists in Gaza, received medical supplies that were sent in early 2024.

“Reports suggest that recently released hostages from Hamas captivity acknowledged receiving some medical treatments during their imprisonment,” the source said. 

“While tracing the exact origin of the supplies remains challenging, this indicates that the operation, spearheaded by France and Qatar in close coordination with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, was not in vain,” the source added. 

The Israeli government was reportedly not involved in the operation that included France, Qatar and the hostages’ families. As the French source revealed, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum also took part in the operation as well as international organizations.

The mission to deliver medical supplies to the hostages in Gaza was intricate and involved travel through several European countries, via Egypt, before reportedly entering the Gaza Strip.

However, it is unclear what impact the alleged delivery of some medical supplies had on the overall health of the hostages who have been held in inhumane conditions by Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. 

In February 2024, Israeli forces who raided the Nasser Hospital in the Gazan city Khan Younis, discovered boxes of medicine that was intended for the Israeli hostages in the coastal enclave. The boxes reportedly contained the names of specific hostages who needed medical supplies.

IDF Lt.-Col. M who led the Egoz elite military unit recalled the discovery at the hospital: “We found enemies, as well as ammunition and medicine for the hostages here – which did not reach them, and remained here completely packed,” the IDF officer said. 

The terrorist militia Hamas has systematically denied the International Red Cross access to the Israeli hostages in Gaza, a violation of international law. Furthermore, Israeli and international critics have blasted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for failing to fulfill its mandate concerning visits to the Israeli hostages.

In December 2023, the former Israeli hostage Raz Ben Ami filed a lawsuit against the Red Cross for neglecting the hostages in Gaza. Ben Ami who was released from captivity in November 2023, urgently needs medicine for her brain tumors. However, ICRC officials rejected her family’s pleas to provide her with vital medicine during her captivity in Gaza. 

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the founder and leader of The Shurat HaDin Israeli Law Center, an Israeli civil rights organization, condemned the conduct of the International Red Cross against the Jewish people. 

“The International Red Cross is reliving its mistakes of the Holocaust, when it abandoned the Jewish people in its darkest period in history,” Darshan-Leitner stated.

“We cannot accept this disregard and disrespect for human life just because they are Jewish,” she added.

The International Red Cross chief Mirjana Spoljaric Egger defended her organization by claiming that the terrorist organization Hamas cannot be pressured to secure visits to Israeli hostages held in Gaza. 

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the Red Cross chief’s claim that Hamas cannot be pressured to allow visits to the Israeli hostages in accordance with international law. 

“You have every avenue, every right and every expectation to place public pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu responded.