Egyptian authorities along with International Committee of the Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Remains in Gaza

Units from Egypt and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the remains of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.

The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been allowed to search 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 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 remains "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this significant peace will take action".

An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the ICRC to find the remains, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the operation past the "demarcation line".

The "yellow line" indicates the border running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.

Until now, Israel has not approved the entry of such teams.

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 in recent weeks.

The news will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial.

The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the return of captives.

The organization does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and transfers them to the IDF.

But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is a recent development.

After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israel, the United Nations estimates that as much as 84% of the territory has been destroyed completely.

The group claims it is doing its best to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of buildings destroyed by the IDF in the region.

It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.

On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson said that Hamas knew where the remains were.

"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to recover the remains of our captives," the spokesperson commented.

The former president posted on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned promptly.

"A portion of the remains are hard to reach, but the rest they can hand over at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.

Trump continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."

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On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would allow as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region 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 function and will proceed," he said speaking at the beginning of a government session.

On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

This appeared to be a reference to Turkey, amid reports Israel had rejected the nation's involvement.

It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.

The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen took the lives of about twelve hundred individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as captives.

No fewer than sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been lost their lives in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.