🔗 Share this article Egyptian authorities and Red Cross Join Search for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip Egyptian equipment enters into the Gaza territory Units from Egypt and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the October 7th incidents, Israeli authorities have confirmed. The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been permitted to search beyond the referred to as "yellow line" in the area controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory. The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities. Donald Trump has warned Hamas to start return the bodies "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will intervene". An official representative said the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the operation beyond the "demarcation line". The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, south and east of Gaza that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire deal. Until now, Israeli authorities has not approved the entry of such teams. Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month. The development will be welcomed by family members, eager to give them a proper burial. The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of captives. The organization does not transfer its captives - alive or deceased - directly to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and transfers them to the Israeli military. But the arrival of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza territory is new. After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as 84% of the area has been destroyed completely. Hamas says it is making every effort to recover hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges locating them under debris of structures bombed out by the Israeli military in the region. It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt. On the weekend, an official representative said that the organization was aware of where the bodies were. "If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to recover the remains of our captives," the representative said. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the remains of the hostages who died were not handed back 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 said. He continued: "We will observe what they do over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation with great attention." Gaza minors dying as they await Israel to permit relocations Rubio says lots of nations willing to participate in Gaza security force Recent photographs show demarcation zone further into Gaza than expected On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would decide which international troops it would permit as part of a proposed international force in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire 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 determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he said talking at the start of a cabinet meeting. On Friday, the American diplomat indicated "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be involved in the force - but noted Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part. This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israeli officials had rejected the country's involvement. It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas. Israel initiated a military campaign in the territory in following the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about twelve hundred individuals and captured 251 others as captives. At least 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.