Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Effort for Hostage Remains in Gaza Strip
Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified.
The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been permitted to operate beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the region under the control of military personnel in Gaza.
The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has cautions the organization to begin returning the remains "quickly, or the other countries participating in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the crew from Egypt has been permitted to work with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "demarcation line" indicates the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Previously, Israeli authorities has not approved the access of these crews.
Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.
The development will be welcomed by relatives, eager to give them a dignified funeral.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of hostages.
The organization does not hand over its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and transfers them to the Israeli military.
But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is new.
After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the UN calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been destroyed completely.
Hamas says it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty finding them under debris of structures destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an official representative stated that the organization knew where the remains were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our captives," the representative said.
Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned promptly.
"Some of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can return at present and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation very closely."
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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned multinational contingent in Gaza to help maintain the truce under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control of our security, 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 continue to operate," he declared talking at the start of a government session.
On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "numerous countries" had volunteered to be part of the contingent - but added Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with participants.
This appeared to be a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israel had rejected the country's participation.
It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas.
The Israeli military initiated a armed operation in Gaza in following the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 individuals and took 251 others 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 Hamas-run health ministry.