Egypt along with Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Remains in Gaza Strip
Units from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the remains of deceased hostages captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the crews have been allowed to operate beyond the so-called "demarcation line" in the region controlled by military personnel in Gaza.
Hamas has transferred 15 out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization stated it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will take action".
An official representative said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to work with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" marks the border running along the north, southern and east of Gaza that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.
Previously, Israel has not approved the entry of such teams.
Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.
The news will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.
The organization does not transfer its captives - alive or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through the territory and transfers them to the IDF.
But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates 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 buildings destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On Sunday, an official representative stated that Hamas was aware of where the bodies were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our captives," the representative commented.
Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the remains of the hostages who died were not returned promptly.
"A portion of the remains are hard to reach, but the rest they can hand over now and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.
He added: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this very closely."
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On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would allow as part of a proposed multinational contingent in the region to help secure the truce under Trump's plan.
"We are in control of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will decide which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous nations" had offered to be involved in the force - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with participants.
This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the country's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.
Israel initiated a armed operation in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 individuals and took two hundred fifty-one others as captives.
At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.