Egypt along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Search for Captive Bodies in Gaza Strip

International equipment enters into the Gaza territory
Egyptian equipment crosses into the Gaza territory

Units 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 verified.

The Israeli government stated that the teams have been permitted to search past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area under the control of Israeli forces in Gaza.

Hamas has transferred fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to hand over all hostage bodies. The organization stated it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has warned Hamas to start return the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will intervene".

An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search beyond the "yellow line".

The "demarcation line" indicates the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.

Until now, Israel has not authorized the access of these crews.

Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was signed in the coastal city of the resort town earlier this month.

The news will be welcomed by family members, eager to provide a dignified funeral.

Captive situation in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives.

Hamas does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through the territory and transfers them to the IDF.

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

After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israel, the United Nations calculates that as much as 84% of the area has been reduced to rubble.

Hamas claims it is doing its best to retrieve hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges finding them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.

On the weekend, an official representative stated that the organization was aware of where the bodies were.

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

The former president posted on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that action would be taken if the bodies of the hostages who died were not returned quickly.

"A portion of the bodies are difficult to access, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their disarming," he remarked.

Trump continued: "We will observe what they do over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation very closely."

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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help maintain the truce under Trump's plan.

"We are in control of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will decide which units are unacceptable 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 "a lot of nations" had offered to be part of the force - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with participants.

This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's participation.

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

Israel launched a armed operation in Gaza in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about twelve hundred individuals and took 251 additional persons as captives.

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

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