Egyptian authorities and International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Remains in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been granted permission to locate the remains of hostages who perished taken during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have verified.
The Israeli government stated that the teams have been permitted to search beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the area controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory.
The group has transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group stated it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt.
The former US president has cautions the organization to start return the remains "quickly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will intervene".
An official representative indicated the crew from Egypt has been authorized to work with the Red Cross to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search past the "yellow line".
The "yellow line" marks the border running along the north, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.
Previously, Israeli authorities has not authorized the entry of such teams.
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 coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.
The development will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to give them a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives.
Hamas does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through the territory and hands them on 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 intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates that as much as 84% of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
The group says it is making every effort to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of structures destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an official representative said that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our captives," the spokesperson said.
The former president posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly.
"Some of the bodies are difficult to access, but others they can hand over now and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
He added: "We will observe what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this very closely."
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On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would determine which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control 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 operate and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, the American diplomat said "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the force - but added Israel would have to be comfortable with participants.
This seemed like a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an agreement with the organization.
The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and took two hundred fifty-one others as hostages.
At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen 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.