Red Cross President meets Hamas leader in Qatar

GENEVA (Reuters) – The president of the International Red Cross traveled to Qatar on Monday to meet with the leader of the Palestinian group Hamas to advance “humanitarian issues” related to the group’s conflict with Israel, the Geneva-based said organization in a statement.

President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Ismail Haniyeh, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said, and also met separately with Qatari authorities acting as mediators in the conflict.

The ICRC, a neutral intermediary that provides aid to Gaza and has helped escort hostages and patients from the enclave, said the meeting was part of talks with all parties to the conflict to improve respect for international humanitarian law.

It added that this was not part of negotiations aimed at releasing more than 200 hostages seized by Hamas during its deadly incursion into Israel on October 7.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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