🔗 Share this article Egyptian authorities along with Red Cross Participate in Effort for Captive Bodies in Gaza Strip International machinery enters into the Gaza territory Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to locate the remains of hostages who perished captured during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have confirmed. The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been allowed to search beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the region controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory. The group has transferred 15 out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization stated it is now working together with Egyptian authorities. Donald Trump has cautions Hamas to start return the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will take action". An official representative said the Egyptian team has been authorized to work with the ICRC to find the remains, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search beyond the "yellow line". The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the north, southern and east of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement. Until now, Israeli authorities has not authorized the entry of these crews. The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town in recent weeks. The news will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to give them a proper burial. The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the return of captives. Hamas 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 Israeli military. But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is a recent development. After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israel, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the area has been reduced to rubble. The group claims it is doing its best to retrieve hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty locating them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza. It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities. On Sunday, an official representative said that Hamas was aware of where the remains were. "If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the spokesperson commented. Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the remains of the deceased hostages were not handed back quickly. "A portion of the bodies are hard to reach, but the rest they can hand over at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their disarming," he remarked. He added: "We will observe what they do over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation very closely." Gaza minors dying as they await Israeli authorities to enable relocations Rubio states lots of countries willing to join Gaza security force Recent photographs reveal Israeli control line deeper into Gaza than anticipated On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help maintain the truce under the former president's initiative. "We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that Israel will decide which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the start of a government session. On Friday, the American diplomat indicated "numerous countries" had volunteered to be involved in the contingent - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part. This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's involvement. It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with the organization. The Israeli military launched a armed operation in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about 1,200 individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one others as captives. At least 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.