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Teams from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been granted permission to search for the remains of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have verified.

The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been permitted to operate past the so-called "yellow line" in the area under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.

Hamas has transferred fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has cautions Hamas to begin returning the bodies "promptly, or the other countries participating in this significant peace will intervene".

An official representative said the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the search beyond the "yellow line".

The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the north, south and east of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

Until now, Israeli authorities has not authorized the access of such teams.

The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of the resort town earlier this month.

The news will be greeted positively by relatives, desperate to provide a proper burial.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.

Hamas does not transfer its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military.

But the entry of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is new.

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

Hamas says it is doing its best to recover remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of structures bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.

It is now coordinating with the Egyptian authorities.

On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that Hamas knew where the remains were.

"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to recover the bodies of our captives," the spokesperson said.

The former president posted on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be taken if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not returned quickly.

"A portion of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.

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

• Palestinian children losing their lives as they await Israeli authorities to enable evacuations
• The US Secretary of State states many countries prepared to participate in Gaza security force
• Recent photographs show demarcation zone further into the territory than anticipated

On the weekend, the Israeli leader said the country would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a proposed multinational contingent in Gaza to help maintain the truce under Trump's plan.

"We are in command of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that we will decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he said talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous nations" had volunteered to be part of the contingent - but added Israel would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

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

It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.

Israel launched a military campaign in the territory in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen took the lives of about twelve hundred people and captured 251 others as hostages.

At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza from that time, according to the territory's health authorities under the group's control.