🔗 Share this article

Units from Egypt and the ICRC have been granted permission to locate the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified.

The Israeli government announced that the crews have been allowed to search beyond the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area under the control of military personnel in the Gaza territory.

The group has transferred 15 out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has cautions the organization to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will intervene".

An official representative indicated the crew from Egypt has been permitted to work with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the search beyond the "demarcation line".

The "demarcation line" indicates the border running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.

Until now, Israel has not authorized the entry of such teams.

The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was signed in the coastal city of the resort town in recent weeks.

The news will be welcomed by family members, eager to provide a proper burial.

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

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

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

After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israel, the United Nations estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been destroyed completely.

The group claims it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it encounters challenges locating them under debris of structures destroyed by the IDF in the region.

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

On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson said that Hamas was aware of where the remains were.

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

Trump shared on his social media account on the weekend that measures 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 now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.

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

• Palestinian minors losing their lives as they wait for Israeli authorities to permit relocations
• Rubio says many nations willing to join the region's peacekeeping unit
• New images show demarcation zone further into Gaza than expected

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan.

"We are in control of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that we will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said talking at the start of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous nations" had offered to be part of the contingent - but noted Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.

This seemed like a allusion to Turkey, amid accounts Israel had rejected the nation's involvement.

It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.

The Israeli military launched a military campaign in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one others as captives.

At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.