Red Cross Backs Down On "War Crime" Statement Against Israel
GENEVA, May 24 (News Agencies) - The International Committee of the Red Cross will in the future refrain from referring to Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank and Gaza as a "war crime," but maintains its position that the policy is contrary to international law, the ICRC said Thursday.
The ICRC was responding to a letter from U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel calling on the humanitarian group to clarify its stance on the issue.
"The case remains that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are a violation of the Geneva convention and the settlements are a cause of violence in the region," ICRC spokesman Vincent Lusser said.
Last week another ICRC spokesman, Tim Gordon Bates, told AFP that the Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories were "a grave violation of the Geneva convention equivalent to a war crime."
During a press conference on May 17th, the ICRC's chief in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Rene Kosirnik, slammed the settlement policy.
"Wrongful actions were committed by both sides," Kosirnik said, adding that Israel's settlement policy violated article 49 of the Geneva Convention.
An Israeli foreign ministry official told the Swiss ATS agency that the ICRC had apologized for the comments to Israel's ambassador at the United Nations.
