đŸ”— Share this article Egypt and Red Cross Participate in Effort for Hostage Remains in Gaza International machinery enters into the Gaza territory Teams from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been granted permission to search for the bodies of deceased hostages taken during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have verified. The Israeli government announced that the crews have been allowed to search beyond the so-called "yellow line" in the area controlled by Israeli forces in the Gaza territory. Hamas has transferred fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to hand over all remains of captives. The group stated it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities. Donald Trump has warned the organization to begin returning the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this significant peace will take action". An Israeli spokesperson indicated the Egyptian team has been authorized to work with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the operation past the "yellow line". The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israel pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal. Until now, Israel has not approved the entry of these crews. The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the coastal city of the resort town earlier this month. The news will be greeted positively by relatives, eager to provide a proper burial. The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the repatriation of hostages. The organization does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military. 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 Israeli forces, the UN estimates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been destroyed completely. The group claims it is making every effort to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in the region. It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt. On Sunday, an official representative said that Hamas knew where the remains were. "If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the spokesperson commented. The former president shared on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the hostages who died were not returned quickly. "Some of the remains are hard to reach, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked. Trump continued: "Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention." Gaza children losing their lives as they wait for Israel to permit relocations Rubio says lots of nations prepared to join Gaza peacekeeping unit Recent photographs reveal demarcation zone deeper into Gaza than expected On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a proposed international force 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 Israel will determine which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function 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 indicated "a lot of nations" had volunteered to be involved in the contingent - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part. This appeared to be a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had rejected the country's participation. It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an agreement with Hamas. Israel launched a armed operation in the territory in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as captives. At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in Gaza from that time, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.