Egypt and International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip
Units from Egypt and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the bodies of deceased hostages taken during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The Israeli government announced that the crews have been permitted to operate past the so-called "yellow line" in the area under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.
Hamas has handed over fifteen out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a US-brokered truce agreement, which mandates it to hand over all remains of captives. The group said it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt.
The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the other countries participating in this significant peace will intervene".
An official representative said the crew from Egypt has been authorized to work with the ICRC to locate the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "yellow line".
The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, southern and east of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israeli authorities has not authorized the access of these crews.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, 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 news will be welcomed by family members, eager to give them a dignified funeral.
The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the return of captives.
The organization does not transfer its captives - alive or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF.
But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.
After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israel, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been destroyed completely.
The group claims it is making every effort to recover remains of captives, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of buildings 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 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 representative said.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the hostages who died were not handed back promptly.
"A portion of the bodies are difficult to access, but the rest they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.
He continued: "We will observe what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this with great attention."
- Palestinian minors losing their lives as they wait for Israel to permit relocations
- The US Secretary of State states many countries prepared to join the region's peacekeeping unit
- Recent photographs reveal demarcation zone further into Gaza than expected
On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would allow 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 stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will decide which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he said speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous countries" had volunteered to be part of the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with participants.
This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's involvement.
It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.
Israel launched a armed operation in Gaza in following the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about twelve hundred individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as captives.
At least 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.
