Egypt along with Red Cross Participate in Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza
Teams from Egypt and the ICRC have been granted permission to locate the remains of deceased hostages taken during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified.
The authorities in Israel stated that the teams have been permitted to operate beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the area under the control of military personnel in Gaza.
Hamas has handed over 15 out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to transfer all remains of captives. The group said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.
The former US president has cautions Hamas to begin returning the bodies "promptly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will take action".
An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the ICRC to locate the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "yellow line" marks the boundary running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.
Previously, Israeli authorities has not authorized the access of these crews.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.
The news will be welcomed by relatives, desperate to give them a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of hostages.
The organization does not transfer its detainees - living or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the IDF.
But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israel, the UN estimates 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 encounters challenges finding them under debris of buildings bombed out by the IDF in the region.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson said that the organization knew where the remains were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our captives," the representative said.
Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that action would be implemented if the remains of the deceased hostages were not returned promptly.
"A portion of the remains are difficult to access, but the rest they can hand over now and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their disarming," he said.
He added: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation very closely."
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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would decide which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help maintain the truce under Trump's plan.
"We are in command of our security, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that Israel will decide which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he said speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, the American diplomat said "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be involved in the force - but added Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with participants.
This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas.
The Israeli military launched a armed operation in Gaza in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as hostages.
At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been killed in military actions in the region since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.