Egyptian authorities along with Red Cross Participate in Effort for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip

Units from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have verified.

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

The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a US-brokered 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 the organization to start return the remains "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this significant peace will take action".

An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the ICRC to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search beyond the "demarcation line".

The "yellow line" marks the border running along the north, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

Previously, Israel has not approved the entry of these crews.

Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.

The news will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the repatriation of hostages.

Hamas does not transfer its detainees - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF.

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 Israel, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been reduced to rubble.

Hamas claims it is making every effort to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of structures destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.

On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that the organization knew where the bodies were.

"If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our captives," the representative 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 returned promptly.

"Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return at present and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.

Trump added: "Let's see what they do over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."

• Palestinian minors dying as they wait for Israel to enable evacuations
• Rubio says many countries prepared to join the region's security force
• New images show Israeli control line further into the territory than anticipated

On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would decide 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 made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will determine which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he said speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting.

On Friday, the American diplomat said "a lot of nations" had offered to be part of the contingent - but added Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with those taking part.

This appeared to be a allusion to Turkey, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the country's involvement.

It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be stationed without an agreement with the organization.

The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others as captives.

No fewer than 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in the region since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.