Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in talks he had with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, demanded that the organization visit the 240 hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza, harshly criticizing the organization’s attitude so far.

Cohen’s office says the secretary of state told Spoljaric that the Red Cross should be required to meet and provide medical aid to all hostages.

“The Red Cross has no right to exist if it does not succeed to visit the hostages held captive by the Hamas terrorist group,” Cohen stressed to Spoljaric, noting that “children, women and Holocaust survivors” are being held captive.

“The Red Cross must act decisively and with a clear voice and must use all the power it has to press for a visit to the hostages as soon as possible,” adds Cohen.

The foreign minister criticized the Red Cross for focusing on Israel, “which is bound by international law and acting in accordance with it”, instead of the huge humanitarian crisis created by Hamas.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel criticizes Colombia and Chile for recalling their ambassadors in protest of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

“Citizens of Colombia, Chile and other Latin American countries are also among the victims of the heinous attack,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat. “The State of Israel is waging a war imposed on it. A war against a terrorist organization that uses the citizens of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”

Haiat said Israel “calls on Colombia and Chile to unequivocally condemn the terrorist organization Hamas, which has massacred and kidnapped babies, children, women and the elderly. Israel expects Colombia and Chile to support the right of a democratic country to protect its citizens and demand the immediate release of all abductees.”

Both Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to the Jewish state overnight, accusing it of “massacres” and human rights abuses.