Egypt along with Red Cross Participate in Effort for Captive Bodies in Gaza
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to locate the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.
The authorities in Israel announced that the crews have been permitted to operate beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the region under the control of military personnel in Gaza.
The group has handed over 15 out of twenty-eight deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, 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 warned the organization to start return the remains "quickly, or the other countries participating in this significant peace will take action".
An official representative indicated the crew from Egypt has been authorized to collaborate with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "yellow line".
The "yellow line" marks the boundary running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel pulled back to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israel has not authorized the entry of these crews.
The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.
The news will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to provide a proper burial.
The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.
Hamas does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - directly to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through the territory and transfers them to the IDF.
But the entry of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.
After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israel, the UN estimates that as much as 84% of the area has been destroyed completely.
The group says it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of structures bombed out by the Israeli military in the region.
It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.
On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that the organization was aware of where the remains were.
"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the spokesperson said.
The former president shared on his social media account on Saturday that action would be implemented if the remains of the deceased hostages were not handed back promptly.
"Some of the bodies are difficult to access, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.
He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation very closely."
- Gaza children losing their lives as they await Israeli authorities to permit relocations
- Rubio says lots of nations willing to participate in Gaza security force
- Recent photographs show Israeli control line deeper into Gaza than expected
On the weekend, the Israeli leader said the country would decide which international troops it would allow as part of a proposed multinational contingent in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan.
"We are in control of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will determine which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he declared talking at the start of a cabinet meeting.
On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the force - but noted Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.
This seemed like a allusion to Turkey, amid accounts Israeli officials had vetoed the nation's involvement.
It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be deployed without an agreement with the organization.
The Israeli military initiated a armed operation in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred individuals and took two hundred fifty-one others as hostages.
At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.