Statement by the IFRC Governing Board

Statement by the members of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 

We, the members of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), stand united in grief, solidarity, and outrage over the killings of eight dedicated volunteers and staff of the Palestine Red Crescent Society — Mostafa Khafaja, Saleh Moamer, Ezzedine Shatt, Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed Al-Hila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al Sharif, and Rifaat Radwan — and the detention of another staff member, Asaad Al Nasasra.

We are deeply shocked and outraged by this devastating loss. These were our colleagues and friends who selflessly served on the frontlines of unimaginable suffering, bringing lifesaving support to those in desperate need. Their deaths are not just a personal tragedy for their families and colleagues — they are a profound blow to the very core of our humanitarian mission and the principles we stand for.

We condemn their killings in the clearest and strongest possible terms. The killing of humanitarian workers is an unacceptable violation of international humanitarian law. Our colleagues were not combatants — they were humanitarians. They should have been protected and granted safe and unhindered access to carry out lifesaving work without fear of harm.

We urge the immediate release of Assad Al Nasasra and the other members of the Palestine Red Crescent who remain in detention. 

We emphasize the absolute and non-negotiable importance of the protection of humanitarian workers, especially our volunteers and staff, who risk their lives every day to bring assistance to those in crisis. They wear our emblems not as a symbol of affiliation or politics, but as a universally recognized shield that should offer them protection.

We remind all parties to conflicts of their obligations under international humanitarian law. This law exists to protect civilians and those who serve them. Disregard of this law is a legal and moral failure that undermines the foundations of humanitarian action everywhere.

We demand accountability and justice – not only for the eight colleagues whose lives were taken so cruelly, but for all humanitarian workers who have died in the line of duty, saving others. Their memory must compel us to act, to speak, and to insist that such violence is never accepted, never ignored, and never repeated.

As Board members of the IFRC, we stand united in our call for justice, protection and respect for humanitarian workers everywhere, at all times. 

An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and we state this loud and clear.

More information

• Find out more about what IFRC is doing in Israel and the occupied territories.
  Middle East: complex emergency crisis
• Find out what the International Committee of the Red Cross is doing in Israel and the occupied territories.
  ICRC in Israel and the occupied territories
• Find out more about Palestine Red Crescent and their work in occupied Palestinian territory.
  Palestine Red Crescent information
• Find out more about international humanitarian law – the laws of war.
  Humanitarian law basics