Egyptian authorities and Red Cross Join Search for Captive Remains in Gaza Strip
Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to search for the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The Israeli government announced that the teams have been allowed to operate beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the area under the control of Israeli forces in Gaza.
The group has transferred 15 out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which mandates it to hand over all remains of captives. The group said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has warned the organization to start return the remains "promptly, or the additional nations involved in this significant peace will intervene".
An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the operation past the "demarcation line".
The "demarcation line" marks the boundary running along the northern, south and east of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israel has not approved the entry of these crews.
Egypt, along with Qatari officials 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 in recent weeks.
The news will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the return of hostages.
The organization does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - directly 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 entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as 84% of the area has been destroyed completely.
The group claims it is making every effort to recover hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges finding them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that the organization was aware of where the bodies were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the spokesperson commented.
Trump shared on his social media account on Saturday that action would be implemented if the remains of the hostages who died were not handed back quickly.
"Some of the remains are hard to reach, but others they can hand over now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
Trump continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this very closely."
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- Recent photographs reveal Israeli control line deeper into Gaza than anticipated
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in the region to help maintain the truce under the former president's initiative.
"We are in command of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that Israel will determine which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the start of a government session.
On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the contingent - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This appeared to be a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israel had vetoed the nation's involvement.
It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be stationed without an understanding with the organization.
Israel initiated a military campaign in Gaza in following the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen took the lives of about twelve hundred individuals and took 251 others as hostages.
No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza from that time, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.