Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Join Effort for Captive Remains in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egypt and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the remains of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel stated that the teams have been permitted to search beyond the referred to as "demarcation line" in the region controlled by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Hamas has transferred fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a US-brokered truce agreement, which mandates it to hand over all remains of captives. The group said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.
The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the bodies "promptly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will intervene".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the crew from Egypt has been authorized to work 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" indicates the border running along the north, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.
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 signed in the Egyptian resort of the resort town in recent weeks.
The news will be welcomed by family members, eager to give them a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of hostages.
Hamas does not hand over its detainees - alive or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military.
But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates that as much as 84% of the territory has been destroyed completely.
The group says it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of structures destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On Sunday, an official representative said that the organization was aware of where the bodies were.
"If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to recover the bodies of our captives," the spokesperson said.
The former president posted on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned promptly.
"Some of the remains are hard to reach, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
He added: "We will observe what they do over the coming two days. I am watching this with great attention."
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On Sunday, the Israeli leader said the country would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in the region to help maintain the ceasefire under Trump's plan.
"We are in command of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will determine which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the beginning of a government session.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "a lot of nations" had volunteered to be involved in the contingent - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This seemed like a allusion to Turkey, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's involvement.
It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an agreement with Hamas.
Israel launched a armed operation in the territory in following the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen took the lives of about twelve hundred individuals and captured 251 additional persons as hostages.
At least 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.