Egyptian authorities and Red Cross Join Effort for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the bodies of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the teams have been permitted to operate beyond the so-called "demarcation line" in the area controlled by military personnel in Gaza.
The group has handed over 15 out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to hand over all hostage bodies. The organization stated it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.
Donald Trump has warned the organization to start return the remains "promptly, or the additional nations involved in this significant peace will intervene".
An official representative said the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search past the "demarcation line".
The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the north, southern and east of Gaza that Israel pulled back to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israeli authorities has not approved the access of these crews.
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 in recent weeks.
The news will be welcomed by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of hostages.
Hamas does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the IDF, but rather to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through the territory and transfers them to the Israeli military.
But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is new.
After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the UN calculates 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 finding them under debris of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that Hamas was aware of where the remains were.
"If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the representative 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 returned quickly.
"A portion of the bodies are difficult to access, but the rest they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their demilitarization," he said.
Trump added: "We will observe what they do over the coming two days. I am watching this very closely."
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On Sunday, the Israeli leader said Israel would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a proposed multinational contingent in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.
"We are in control of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that we will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he said talking at the start of a government session.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous nations" had volunteered to be involved in the force - but noted Israel would have to be comfortable with those taking part.
This appeared to be a reference to Turkey, amid accounts Israel had vetoed the nation's participation.
It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an agreement with the organization.
Israel initiated a armed operation in the territory in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and captured 251 others as hostages.
No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.
