Egypt and Red Cross Join Effort for Hostage Bodies in Gaza Strip

International machinery enters into the Gaza territory
International machinery crosses into the Gaza Strip

Teams from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the remains of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have confirmed.

The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been allowed to operate past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory.

The group has handed over 15 out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a US-brokered truce agreement, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization stated it is now working together with officials in Egypt.

The former US president has warned the organization to start return the remains "promptly, or the additional nations involved in this significant peace will take action".

An official representative said the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search beyond the "yellow line".

The "yellow line" indicates the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

Previously, Israeli authorities has not approved the access of these crews.

Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of the resort town earlier this month.

The development will be welcomed by family members, desperate to give them a dignified funeral.

Captive situation in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the repatriation of hostages.

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 IDF.

But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.

After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israeli forces, the United Nations calculates that as much as eighty-four percent of the territory has been destroyed completely.

Hamas claims it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the IDF in Gaza.

It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.

On Sunday, 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 retrieve the bodies of our captives," the representative commented.

Trump shared on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be implemented if the bodies of the hostages who died were not handed back quickly.

"A portion of the remains are hard to reach, but the rest they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their demilitarization," he said.

He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation very closely."

  • Palestinian minors dying as they await Israel to enable relocations
  • Rubio says many countries willing to participate in the region's peacekeeping unit
  • New images show demarcation zone deeper 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 secure the truce under the former president's initiative.

"We are in control of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will determine which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he declared talking at the beginning of a government session.

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

This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the country's participation.

It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.

Israel launched a armed operation in the territory in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and took two hundred fifty-one others as hostages.

At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been killed in Israeli attacks in the region since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Crystal Richardson
Crystal Richardson

A passionate cultural historian and writer based in Genoa, specializing in Italian art and urban heritage.