Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Effort for Hostage Remains in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egypt and the ICRC have been granted permission to locate the remains of deceased hostages taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have verified.
The authorities in Israel stated that the teams have been allowed to search beyond the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area controlled by military personnel in Gaza.
Hamas has handed over 15 out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a US-brokered truce agreement, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The group stated it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt.
The former US president has cautions Hamas to start return the bodies "promptly, or the other countries participating in this significant peace will intervene".
An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the search beyond the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" marks the boundary running along the north, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Previously, Israeli authorities has not authorized the entry of these crews.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.
The news will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the return of captives.
The organization does not hand over its captives - alive or deceased - directly to the IDF, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and transfers them to the IDF.
But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the UN calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
Hamas says it is doing its best to recover hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.
On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that Hamas was aware of where the remains were.
"If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our captives," the spokesperson commented.
The former president posted on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly.
"A portion of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can hand over at present and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their disarming," he said.
He added: "Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this with great attention."
- Palestinian children losing their lives as they wait for Israeli authorities to permit relocations
- Rubio says lots of countries willing to participate in Gaza peacekeeping unit
- New images show demarcation zone further into Gaza than anticipated
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would decide which international troops it would permit as part of a proposed international force in Gaza to help secure the truce 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 function and will proceed," he declared speaking at the beginning of a government session.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the contingent - but noted Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the country's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be stationed without an agreement with the organization.
The Israeli military initiated a armed operation in the territory in following the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 people and captured 251 others as captives.
At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in the region since then, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.