Egypt and International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Captive Bodies in Gaza
Teams from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been granted permission to search for the remains of deceased hostages captured during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the teams have been permitted to operate beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the region under the control of Israeli forces in Gaza.
The group has transferred 15 out of twenty-eight deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a US-brokered truce agreement, which mandates it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has warned the organization to start return the remains "quickly, or the other countries involved in this great peace will take action".
An official representative said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the operation beyond the "demarcation line".
The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israeli authorities has not approved the entry of these crews.
Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town in recent weeks.
The news will be welcomed by relatives, eager to give them a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of hostages.
The organization does not hand over its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies 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 heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been destroyed completely.
The group claims it is doing its best to retrieve remains of captives, but it encounters challenges finding them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.
On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the representative said.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that action would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not handed back quickly.
"A portion of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.
Trump continued: "We will observe what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."
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On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a planned international force in the region to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan.
"We are in command of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he said talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On the end of the week, the American diplomat said "numerous nations" had volunteered to be involved in the force - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's involvement.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an agreement with the organization.
Israel initiated a armed operation in the territory in following the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about 1,200 individuals and captured 251 additional persons as captives.
At least 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.