The rules of war set up 75 years ago to protect lives in a conflict really do work – when they are honored. Under the terms of a Jan. 15 truce agreement, Hamas has released the first Israeli hostages in Gaza while Israel let free Palestinian detainees. More exchanges are expected in coming days.
These safe transfers, complex in their logistics, were possible because of the trust that Hamas and Israel have put in the International Committee of the Red Cross, the guardian of the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
That trust has been well earned over decades each time the ICRC has forcibly worked as a neutral intermediary for the safety and dignity of civilians, wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, and other individuals affected by conflict. Yet the Red Cross now says that this principle-driven approach is becoming more difficult in today’s wars when one or both sides ignore or “misinterpret” the rules of war, resulting in massive losses of innocent life.
“We are already seeing wars without limits, without regard for human dignity. We are seeing deepening divisions, rendering the struggle for peace harder than it should be,” Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the ICRC, told the United Nations Tuesday.
Last year, the ICRC joined with six nations – Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and South Africa – not only to reinvigorate the world’s commitment to international humanitarian law but also to adjust the terms of engagement in conflicts. “We need to think about how the rules of war apply to new technologies, and consider the challenges that large-scale conflicts might bring,” said Ms. Spoljaric, a Swiss Croatian diplomat.
She hopes this rethink of the Geneva Conventions will result in changes at a global meeting set for late 2026. The tragic trend to disregard innocent life in war can be reversed, the Red Cross believes. Otherwise, its workers would not be putting themselves in harm’s way in conflicts, such as facilitating the transfer of people between Hamas and Israel. Preserving the innocent in war is a strong inducement for peace.
