Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Remains in Gaza
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the bodies of deceased hostages captured during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have verified.
The Israeli government announced that the teams have been allowed to operate past the referred to as "yellow line" in the area controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory.
Hamas has handed over fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization stated it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.
Donald Trump has warned the organization to begin returning the bodies "quickly, or the other countries involved in this great peace will intervene".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" marks the border running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.
Previously, Israeli authorities has not authorized the entry of such teams.
Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.
The development will be greeted positively by relatives, desperate to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the return of hostages.
The organization does not hand over its captives - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF.
But the entry of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.
After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israel, the UN estimates that as much as 84% of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
The group claims it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of structures bombed out by the IDF in the region.
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 bodies were.
"If Hamas 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 social media account on Saturday that action would be taken if the remains of the hostages who died were not returned promptly.
"Some of the bodies are difficult to access, but the rest they can hand over at present and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their disarming," he remarked.
He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this very closely."
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On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would decide which international troops it would allow as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help maintain the ceasefire under Trump's plan.
"We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he said talking at the start of a government session.
On the end of the week, the American diplomat indicated "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be part of the force - but added Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part.
This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's participation.
It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas.
The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 individuals and took 251 additional persons as hostages.
No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.