Egypt and International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Captive Bodies in Gaza
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to locate the bodies of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the crews have been permitted to operate beyond the referred to as "demarcation line" in the region controlled by military personnel in Gaza.
The group has transferred 15 out of twenty-eight deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates it to transfer all remains of captives. The group said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.
Donald Trump has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this significant peace will intervene".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the crew from Egypt has been permitted to collaborate with the Red Cross to find the bodies, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the search beyond the "yellow line".
The "yellow line" marks the boundary running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
Previously, Israel has not authorized the access of such teams.
Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.
The development will be welcomed by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.
Hamas does not hand over its captives - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF.
But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israel, the UN estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been destroyed completely.
The group says it is doing its best to retrieve hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges finding them under debris of structures destroyed by the IDF in the region.
It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.
On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that the organization knew where the remains were.
"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the spokesperson commented.
Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be implemented if the remains of the hostages who died were not handed back quickly.
"Some of the bodies are difficult to access, but the rest they can return now and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
Trump added: "Let's see what they do over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."
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- The US Secretary of State says many nations prepared to participate in Gaza peacekeeping unit
- New images reveal demarcation zone further into the territory than anticipated
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a proposed multinational contingent in the region to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will determine which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he declared talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, the American diplomat said "numerous nations" had volunteered to be part of the contingent - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This appeared to be a reference to Turkey, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the country's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.
Israel initiated a military campaign in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and took two hundred fifty-one additional persons as hostages.
No fewer than 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in the region since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.