Egypt and Red Cross Join Effort for Captive Bodies in Gaza Strip
Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to locate the remains of deceased hostages captured during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have verified.
The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been allowed to operate past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area under the control of military personnel in the Gaza territory.
Hamas has handed over 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to hand over all hostage bodies. The organization stated it is now coordinating with officials in Egypt.
Donald Trump has warned the organization to start return the bodies "quickly, or the other countries participating in this great peace will take action".
An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search past the "demarcation line".
The "demarcation line" marks the boundary running along the north, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal.
Until now, Israel has not approved the entry of these crews.
Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump peace initiative for Gaza, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.
The news will be greeted positively by family members, eager to provide a proper burial.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.
The organization does not transfer its detainees - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through the territory 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 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the UN estimates that as much as 84% of the area has been destroyed completely.
The group claims it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it encounters challenges finding them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.
It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.
On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that Hamas knew where the remains were.
"If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our captives," the representative commented.
The former president shared on his social media account on the weekend that action would be implemented if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly.
"Some of the remains are difficult to access, but the rest they can hand over now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.
He added: "We will observe what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this with great attention."
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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would determine which foreign forces it would permit as part of a proposed multinational contingent in the region to help secure the ceasefire 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 units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the beginning of a government session.
On the end of the week, the American diplomat said "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 Turkey, amid accounts Israel had rejected the country's involvement.
It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be deployed without an agreement with the organization.
The Israeli military initiated a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 individuals and captured two hundred fifty-one additional persons as captives.
No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.