Egyptian authorities along with Red Cross Join Search for Captive Bodies in Gaza Strip

Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the bodies of deceased hostages captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have confirmed.

The authorities in Israel stated that the teams have been permitted to search beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the area under the control of Israeli forces in Gaza.

Hamas has handed over fifteen out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization said it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt.

Donald Trump has cautions the organization to start return the bodies "quickly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will take action".

An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to collaborate with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the operation past the "demarcation line".

The "yellow line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, south and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.

Previously, Israel has not approved the access of such teams.

Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.

The development will be greeted positively by family members, eager to give them a dignified funeral.

The ICRC has already been heavily involved in the repatriation of hostages.

The organization does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF.

But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.

After more than two years of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been reduced to rubble.

The group says it is making every effort to retrieve hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.

On the weekend, an official representative stated that the organization knew where the remains were.

"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our hostages," the representative said.

The former president shared on his social media account on Saturday that action would be taken if the remains of the hostages who died were not returned quickly.

"A portion of the bodies are difficult to access, but others they can return at present and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their demilitarization," he said.

Trump added: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely."

• Palestinian minors dying as they await Israeli authorities to enable evacuations
• Rubio says many nations prepared to participate in Gaza peacekeeping unit
• New images reveal Israeli control line further into Gaza than anticipated

On the weekend, the Israeli leader announced Israel would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a proposed international force in the region to help maintain the truce under the former president's initiative.

"We are in control of our security, 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 beginning of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "a lot of nations" had offered to be part of the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

This seemed like a allusion to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israel had rejected the nation's involvement.

It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas.

Israel launched a armed operation in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and took 251 others as captives.

At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.