Egyptian authorities along with Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Remains in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the bodies of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the teams have been permitted to operate past the referred to as "yellow line" in the region controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory.
The group has handed over fifteen out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a US-brokered truce agreement, which requires it to transfer all hostage bodies. The organization said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
Donald Trump has warned Hamas to start return the remains "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this significant peace will intervene".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the crew from Egypt has been permitted to work with the ICRC to find the remains, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search beyond the "yellow line".
The "yellow line" marks the border running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israeli authorities has not authorized the entry of such teams.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.
The news will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to give them a dignified funeral.
The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the repatriation of hostages.
The organization does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and transfers them to the IDF.
But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than two years of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been reduced to rubble.
The group claims it is making every effort to retrieve hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of structures destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.
On the weekend, an official representative stated that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our hostages," the spokesperson said.
Trump posted on his social media account 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 the rest they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.
Trump continued: "Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this with great attention."
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On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would allow as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that Israel will determine which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the beginning of a government session.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous nations" had volunteered to be part of the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had rejected the nation's involvement.
It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with the organization.
The Israeli military launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as hostages.
At least 68,519 have been killed in military actions in the region from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.
