Explained | What is the Red Cross's role in Israel-Hamas exchanges?

The International Committee of the Red Cross plays a central, highly visible role in the exchanges of hostages in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, transporting and escorting hundreds of people to freedom.

But the organization says it also does less visible diplomatic work that underpins crucial aspects of those exchanges.

"Reducing the role of the ICRC as just a transport service really misses the bigger picture of what we do," says the group's website. "When we transport those affected by armed conflict, it is never just about moving people from one place to another."

The Red Cross describes itself as a "a neutral, independent organization" that ensures humanitarian protection and help for people affected by armed conflict. Since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago, it has helped to coordinate hostage-prisoner exchanges during two negotiated truces, one in November 2023 and one in January of this year.

The group has come under sharp criticism from both Israelis and Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

The families of some of the hostages taken from Israel have accused the ICRC of failing to visit the in captivity to check on their health and provide medications, and of not doing enough to work for their release. The organization long said that it did not know where the hostages were being held and that much of its work was carried out behind the scenes.

The group has also been criticized for not visiting Palestinians detained in Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the war in Gaza. The Red Cross said it was denied permission to visit the detainees, but that it had engaged with more than 1,250 people who were released in the exchanges between Israel and Hamas "to gather information on their treatment and conditions of detention."

The organization has also been criticized for remaining neutral about such a deeply divisive conflict. The Red Cros says its neutrality allows it "to safely transfer hostages and detainees, protecting them during the vulnerable moments" and argues that it "is the trust placed in us by the Israeli authorities and Hamas that enables us to work with all involved to carry out these delicate operations."

"Neutrality provides us with the ability to try and influence both sides to act in accordance with the laws of war," Julien Lerisson, head of the group's delegation in Israel and the occupied territories, wrote in March. "It is the confidential diplomatic work -- in which things are said clearly, behind closed doors, without publicly denouncing or supporting either side -- that makes humanitarian work possible."

During the ceasefire in January, Hamas staged ceremonies involving some of the released hostages, drawing widespread international condemnation. Hamas, by then badly battered by the war and falling in many Palestinians' estimation, used the handover of hostages to portray itself as a still-powerful force. For example, Hamas held a "signing ceremony" between one of its members and a representative of the Red Cross before handing over a group of four women being held as hostages.

Lerisson later explained that he had decided to continue with the releases, despite such "difficult scenes," so as not to risk the lives of the hostages forced to engage in the ceremonies or those still waiting to be released.

On Friday, the ICRC president, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, urging both to stick to their commitments to the deal brokered by international mediators.

"Release operations must be carried out safely and with dignity," she said. "Humanitarian assistance must resume urgently at full capacity and be delivered to people safely wherever they are. The ceasefire must hold. Lives depend on it."