Egyptian authorities along with Red Cross Participate in Effort for Captive Remains in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egypt and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have verified.
The Israeli government announced that the teams have been permitted to search beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the region under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.
Hamas has handed over fifteen out of twenty-eight deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has cautions the organization to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this significant peace will take action".
An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the operation past the "demarcation line".
The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the north, south and eastern of Gaza that Israel pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Previously, Israel has not approved the entry of such teams.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.
The news will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to give them a dignified funeral.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the repatriation of captives.
The organization does not transfer its captives - alive or deceased - directly to the IDF, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through the territory and transfers them to the Israeli military.
But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is a recent development.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the UN estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been destroyed completely.
Hamas says it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.
On Sunday, an official representative said that Hamas was aware of where the bodies were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the remains of our captives," the spokesperson commented.
The former president shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that action would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly.
"Some of the bodies are difficult to access, but the rest they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their disarming," he said.
He added: "We will observe what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."
- Palestinian children losing their lives as they await Israel to permit relocations
- The US Secretary of State states many nations willing to participate in the region's security force
- Recent photographs reveal Israeli control line deeper into the territory than anticipated
On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a proposed international force in the region to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that we will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he declared talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "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 reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had rejected the country's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.
The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in the territory in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as hostages.
At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.