Egyptian authorities along with Red Cross Participate in Search for Captive Bodies in Gaza
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to locate the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified.
The Israeli government announced that the crews have been permitted to search past the referred to as "yellow line" in the area under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.
The group has transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered truce agreement, which mandates it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.
The former US president has warned Hamas to begin returning the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search beyond the "yellow line".
The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the northern, south and east of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Previously, Israel has not approved the access of these crews.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.
The development will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.
Hamas does not hand over its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and hands them on to the IDF.
But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is new.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israel, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been reduced to rubble.
The group claims it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.
On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the remains of our hostages," the spokesperson said.
The former president posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the remains of the deceased hostages were not handed back promptly.
"Some of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their disarming," he said.
Trump continued: "We will observe what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."
- Gaza minors losing their lives as they await Israeli authorities to enable relocations
- The US Secretary of State states lots of countries prepared to participate in Gaza security force
- New images show demarcation zone deeper into the territory than anticipated
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would decide which international troops it would allow as part of a proposed multinational contingent in the region to help secure the truce under Trump's plan.
"We are in control of our security, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that we will determine which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said talking at the start of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, the American diplomat indicated "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with participants.
This seemed like a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israel had vetoed the country's involvement.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.
Israel launched a military campaign in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about 1,200 individuals and took two hundred fifty-one additional persons as hostages.
At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in the region from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.