Egypt and International Committee of the Red Cross Join Effort for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egypt and the ICRC have been authorized to search for the remains of hostages who perished taken during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have verified.
The authorities in Israel announced that the teams have been allowed to operate beyond the so-called "demarcation line" in the area under the control of military personnel in the Gaza territory.
Hamas has handed over 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The group said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has cautions Hamas to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the other countries participating in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been authorized to work with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search past the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" marks the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israel has not approved the access 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 ratified in the coastal city of the resort town earlier this month.
The news will be welcomed by family members, eager to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the return of hostages.
The organization does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - directly to the IDF, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military.
But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is new.
After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israel, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been destroyed completely.
Hamas claims it is doing its best to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.
On the weekend, an official representative said that Hamas knew where the bodies were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the spokesperson commented.
Trump posted on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not handed back promptly.
"A portion of the bodies are difficult to access, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
Trump continued: "We will observe what they do over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation very closely."
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On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in the region to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On the end of the week, the American diplomat indicated "numerous nations" had offered to be involved in the contingent - but added Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with participants.
This seemed like a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israeli officials had vetoed the country's involvement.
It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an agreement with Hamas.
The Israeli military launched a armed operation in the territory in following the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and took 251 additional persons as captives.
At least 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region since then, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.