Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Search for Captive Remains in Gaza
Units from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the bodies of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have verified.
The Israeli government announced that the teams have been allowed to operate beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the region controlled by military personnel in Gaza.
The group has transferred fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which requires it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group stated it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has cautions Hamas to start return the remains "quickly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" marks the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.
Until now, Israel has not approved the access of these crews.
Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.
The development will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a dignified funeral.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the return of hostages.
The organization does not transfer its captives - alive or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military.
But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israel, the United Nations estimates that as much as 84% of the area has been reduced to rubble.
Hamas claims it is doing its best to recover hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the Israeli military in the region.
It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.
On Sunday, an official representative stated that Hamas was aware of where the remains were.
"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to recover the remains of our captives," the representative commented.
The former president shared on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the remains of the hostages who died were not handed back quickly.
"A portion of the remains are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their disarming," he said.
He continued: "Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely."
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On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced the country would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan.
"We are in control of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he declared talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be part of the contingent - but added Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with participants.
This seemed like a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israeli officials had rejected the country's participation.
It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 individuals and took 251 additional persons as hostages.
At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.