Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Search for Captive Bodies in Gaza Strip
Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to locate the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been allowed to search beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the region controlled by Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.
Hamas has handed over 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates it to transfer all hostage bodies. The organization said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
Donald Trump has warned the organization to start return the remains "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been authorized to collaborate with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, south and east of Gaza that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israel has not authorized the entry of these crews.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town in recent weeks.
The development will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to provide a dignified funeral.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives.
Hamas does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and transfers them to the Israeli military.
But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip 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 destroyed completely.
The group claims it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of structures bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza.
It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an official representative stated that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the spokesperson said.
The former president posted on his social media account on Saturday that action would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly.
"Some of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can hand over now and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.
He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."
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On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in command of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting.
On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "a lot of countries" had offered to be part of the contingent - but noted Israel would have to be comfortable with participants.
This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israel had vetoed the nation's involvement.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with the organization.
Israel launched a armed operation in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about twelve hundred people and took 251 others as captives.
No fewer than 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza from that time, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.