The Red Cross head will meet family members of several of the 240 people seized in Hamas’s attack in Israel last month and held hostage in Gaza, the organisation said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Health Minister Uriel Menachem Buso will also take part in the meeting in Geneva with International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric, the ICRC said.

“Families of hostages are living through an incredibly heart-wrenching time and I want to underscore how hard we are advocating on behalf of their loved ones,” Spoljaric said.

“This is a key priority for me, and I know the enormous pain the families are enduring.”

According to AFP, the ICRC stressed that it had persistently been advocating on behalf of the hostages held in Gaza, including through direct contacts with Hamas and with others holding influence over the parties.

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