GAZA, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Movement on Friday rejected the request of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to unveil the fate of four missing Israelis in the Gaza Strip.
"The issue of the captured Israelis is within the purview of resistance and Qassam Brigades, Hamas armed wing, is the only one to decide and Hamas won't respond to such calls," Hamas Spokesman Abdellatif al-Qanoua told Xinhua.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Committee in Gaza rejected the ICRC's request to unveil the fate of the missing Israelis.
"The call is a contempt to the minds and feelings of Palestinian prisoners and their families," it said in an emailed press statement.
The committee also criticized the ICRC's description of two of the missing Israelis as "civilians," adding that the missing soldiers "were killed in the aggression on the Gaza Strip."
"This reveals the state of weakness and helplessness experienced by international and humanitarian organizations who still fear from Israel," it said.
The statement accused the ICRC of deliberately "equating the victim with the executioner, which makes the Israeli occupation unique to the Palestinian people and their families."
It called on the ICRC to "restore its historical and humanitarian role in the protection of human rights."
On Thursday, the ICRC urged Hamas to "comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law toward Israelis who lost their lives in Gaza between July 2014 and 2016 and whose fate is still unknown."
"Regardless of the status of the missing persons in general, whether they are soldiers who were killed or captured during the fighting, or civilians held by a hostile party, all of them are protected by humanitarian law and must be given due attention by their families according to law," the ICRC noted.
Hamas armed wing said a year ago that they were holding four Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip without specifying their fate. However, Israel said there are two Israeli soldiers and two civilians missing in Gaza.
In February, Hamas announced that Israel had offered a new prisoner exchange deal, but said "the numbers and formula Israel has presented so far for the proposed deal do not live up to its demands."
