🔗 Share this article Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza International machinery crosses into the Gaza Strip Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the bodies of deceased hostages captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed. The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been permitted to operate past the so-called "yellow line" in the region controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory. Hamas has transferred 15 out of twenty-eight deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization stated it is now working together with officials in Egypt. The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the bodies "quickly, or the other countries participating in this significant peace will intervene". An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to collaborate with the ICRC to find the remains, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search past the "demarcation line". The "demarcation line" indicates the border running along the north, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal. Previously, Israel has not authorized the entry of such teams. Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month. The development will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to give them a dignified funeral. The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives. Hamas does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead 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 Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been destroyed completely. The group says it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the IDF in the region. It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt. On Sunday, an official representative said that the organization was aware of where the remains were. "If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the remains of our hostages," the representative said. Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be taken if the remains of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly. "Some of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can hand over at present 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 monitoring the situation very closely." Palestinian children losing their lives as they wait for Israel to enable evacuations Rubio says many nations willing to join Gaza peacekeeping unit Recent photographs show demarcation zone further into the territory than anticipated On Sunday, the Israeli leader said the country would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned 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 forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he declared talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting. On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "a lot of nations" had offered to be involved in the contingent - but added Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with participants. This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's participation. It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be stationed without an understanding with the organization. The Israeli military initiated a armed operation in the territory in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about twelve hundred people and took 251 additional persons as captives. No fewer than sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.