Egypt and International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Remains in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the remains of hostages who perished taken during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the crews have been allowed to search beyond the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area controlled by Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.
The group has transferred fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered truce agreement, which mandates it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.
The former US president has cautions the organization to start return the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson indicated the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to find the remains, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search past the "yellow line".
The "yellow line" marks the boundary running along the north, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israel pulled back to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Previously, Israel has not authorized the entry of these crews.
Egypt, along with Qatar 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, eager to give them a dignified funeral.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of hostages.
The organization does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and transfers them to the IDF.
But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.
After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates that as much as 84% of the area has been destroyed completely.
Hamas says it is making every effort to recover hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of structures bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.
On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that the organization knew where the bodies were.
"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the representative said.
The former president posted on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the hostages who died were not returned quickly.
"Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but the rest they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their demilitarization," he remarked.
He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."
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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide which international troops it would allow as part of a proposed multinational contingent in Gaza to help maintain the ceasefire under Trump's plan.
"We are in command of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will decide which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the contingent - but noted Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had rejected the nation's participation.
It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas.
Israel launched a military campaign in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group killed about twelve hundred individuals and took 251 others as hostages.
No fewer than sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been killed in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.