Egypt along with International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Captive Remains in Gaza
Units from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the crews have been allowed to search past the so-called "yellow line" in the region under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.
The group has transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which mandates it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group stated it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
Donald Trump has cautions Hamas to start return the bodies "promptly, or the other countries participating in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the operation beyond the "yellow line".
The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the north, south and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.
Until now, Israel has not authorized the access of such teams.
Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.
The development will be welcomed by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives.
The organization does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and hands them on 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 Israel, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
The group says it is making every effort to retrieve hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges locating them under debris of structures destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.
On the weekend, an official representative said that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our hostages," the spokesperson said.
Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be implemented if the remains of the hostages who died were not handed back promptly.
"A portion of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can hand over at present and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
Trump added: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation very closely."
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On the weekend, the Israeli leader said the country would decide which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help secure the truce under Trump's plan.
"We are in command of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that Israel will decide which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be part of the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with participants.
This seemed like a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israeli officials had vetoed the country's participation.
It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.
Israel launched a armed operation in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others as captives.
At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in Gaza from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.