🔗 Share this article Egypt along with International Committee of the Red Cross Participate in Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip Egyptian machinery enters into the Gaza Strip Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been granted permission to locate the remains of deceased hostages captured during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have verified. The authorities in Israel stated that the teams have been allowed to operate past the so-called "demarcation line" in the region controlled by Israeli forces in the Gaza territory. Hamas has handed over fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to hand over all hostage bodies. The group said it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt. The former US president has warned Hamas to start return the bodies "promptly, or the other countries involved in this great peace will intervene". An official representative said the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the ICRC to find the remains, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "yellow line". The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, south and east of Gaza that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal. Previously, Israeli authorities has not approved the access of these crews. Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks. The development will be greeted positively by relatives, desperate to provide a proper burial. The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the return of hostages. The organization does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military. But the entry of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development. After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the UN estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been reduced to rubble. The group says it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it encounters challenges finding them under debris of structures bombed out by the IDF in the region. It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt. On the weekend, an official representative said that Hamas knew where the bodies were. "If the group put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our captives," the representative said. The former president shared on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the hostages who died were not handed back promptly. "Some of the bodies are difficult to access, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their demilitarization," he said. He continued: "We will observe what they do over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention." Gaza minors losing their lives as they await Israel to permit evacuations Rubio says lots of nations willing to participate in Gaza security force Recent photographs show Israeli control line further into the territory than anticipated On Sunday, the Israeli leader said the country would decide which foreign forces 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 command of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that we will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he declared speaking at the start of a government session. On Friday, the American diplomat said "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be part of the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part. This appeared to be a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's participation. It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an agreement with Hamas. The Israeli military launched a military campaign in the territory in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 people and captured 251 additional persons as captives. At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.