🔗 Share this article Egypt and International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Egyptian equipment crosses into the Gaza territory Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the remains of hostages who perished taken during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have confirmed. The Israeli government stated that the teams have been allowed to search past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the region controlled by Israeli forces in Gaza. The group has transferred fifteen out of twenty-eight deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which requires it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group said it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt. The former US president has cautions Hamas to start return the remains "quickly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will intervene". An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been authorized to collaborate with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the search past the "demarcation line". The "yellow line" marks the border running along the northern, south and east of Gaza that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement. Until now, Israel has not approved the entry of such teams. The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the coastal city of the resort town in recent weeks. The development will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to give them a proper burial. The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the return of captives. Hamas does not transfer its captives - alive or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF. But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is a recent development. After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been destroyed completely. Hamas says it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of structures bombed out by the IDF in Gaza. It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt. On the weekend, an official representative stated that the organization knew where the bodies were. "If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the representative commented. Trump posted on his social media account on Saturday that action would be taken if the remains of the deceased hostages were not returned promptly. "A portion of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can hand over at present and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has do with their disarming," he remarked. He added: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this with great attention." Palestinian children losing their lives as they wait for Israel to enable evacuations Rubio says lots of countries prepared to participate in the region's security force Recent photographs show demarcation zone further into the territory than anticipated On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide which international troops it would allow as part of a planned international force in the region to help secure the truce under the former president's initiative. "We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will determine which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said talking at the beginning of a government session. On the end of the week, the American diplomat said "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be part of the contingent - but added Israel would have to be comfortable with those taking part. This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's involvement. It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an agreement with the organization. Israel initiated a military campaign in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and captured two hundred fifty-one others as captives. No fewer than 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.