The president of the ICRC publicly declares that Gaza has become hell on earth and that what is happening there constitutes an extreme weakening of international law

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the guardian of the Geneva Conventions, which are internationally agreed rules of conduct in times of war. Normally, the ICRC only addresses the warring parties confidentially when it believes violations have been committed. This statement came on the same day as one from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stating that Israel's tactics were threatening the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.