🔗 Share this article Egyptian authorities and Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip Egyptian machinery crosses into the Gaza Strip Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to search for the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified. The Israeli government stated that the teams have been permitted to search beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the region under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory. The group has handed over 15 out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to transfer all remains of captives. The group said it is now working together with officials in Egypt. The former US president has cautions Hamas to start return the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will intervene". An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to work with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search beyond the "demarcation line". The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, south and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal. Until now, Israeli authorities has not authorized the access of such teams. The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of the resort town in recent weeks. The news will be welcomed by family members, desperate to give them a proper burial. The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives. The organization does not transfer its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military. But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza territory is a recent development. After more than two years of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been destroyed completely. The group says it is doing its best to recover hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of structures destroyed by the IDF in the region. It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities. 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 retrieve the remains of our captives," the representative said. The former president shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be taken if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly. "Some of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can return now and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their disarming," he said. He added: "We will observe what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention." Gaza children dying as they await Israeli authorities to enable relocations Rubio states lots of nations willing to join the region's security force Recent photographs reveal demarcation zone deeper into Gaza than expected On the weekend, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a planned international force in the region to help secure the truce under Trump's plan. "We are in control of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that we will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the beginning of a government session. On Friday, the American diplomat indicated "numerous nations" had offered to be part of the force - but noted Israel would have to be comfortable with participants. This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israel had vetoed the nation's participation. It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an agreement with Hamas. The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in Gaza in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took two hundred fifty-one additional persons 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.