🔗 Share this article

Teams from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been granted permission to locate the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.

The Israeli government announced that the crews have been allowed to operate past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area under the control of military personnel in Gaza.

The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.

The former US president has cautions the organization to start return the bodies "promptly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will take action".

An official representative said the Egyptian team has been permitted to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".

The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the north, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.

Previously, Israel has not authorized the entry of such teams.

Egypt, 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 the resort town earlier this month.

The development will be welcomed by family members, eager to provide a proper burial.

The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives.

The organization does not hand over its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but rather to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through the territory and transfers them to the Israeli military.

But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza territory is new.

After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been destroyed completely.

Hamas claims it is doing its best to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.

It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.

On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson said that Hamas knew where the remains were.

"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our captives," the spokesperson commented.

The former president posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the bodies of the hostages who died were not handed back quickly.

"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 disarming," he said.

Trump continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation very closely."

• Gaza minors dying as they wait for Israeli authorities to permit evacuations
• Rubio states lots of nations prepared to join Gaza peacekeeping unit
• New images reveal demarcation zone further into the territory than expected

On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would determine which foreign forces it would permit as part of a proposed international force in Gaza to help maintain the truce under the former president's initiative.

"We are in command of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that we will decide which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, the American diplomat indicated "numerous nations" had offered to be part of the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

This seemed like a reference 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 the organization.

Israel initiated a armed operation in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about 1,200 people and captured 251 additional persons as hostages.

No fewer than 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in the region from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.