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Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the remains of deceased hostages taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have verified.

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

Hamas has transferred fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which mandates it to transfer all hostage bodies. The group said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.

Donald Trump has warned the organization to begin returning the bodies "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this significant peace will intervene".

An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to collaborate 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 border running along the northern, southern and east of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.

Previously, Israel has not approved the entry of these crews.

The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a principal participant of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in recent weeks.

The news will be welcomed by family members, desperate 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 captives - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the Israeli military.

But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza territory is new.

After more than two years of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the United Nations estimates that as much as 84% of the area has been reduced to rubble.

Hamas says it is making every effort to recover hostage bodies, but it faces difficulty finding them under rubble of structures bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now working in coordination with the officials in Egypt.

On Sunday, an official representative stated that Hamas was aware of where the bodies were.

"If the group put in greater work, they would be able to recover the remains of our captives," the representative commented.

Trump posted on his social media account on Saturday that action would be taken if the bodies of the deceased hostages were not handed back promptly.

"A portion of the bodies are hard to reach, but the rest they can hand over now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.

Trump continued: "Let's see what they do over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."

• Palestinian children losing their lives as they await Israel to enable relocations
• The US Secretary of State says lots of nations prepared to participate in the region's security force
• Recent photographs reveal Israeli control line further into the territory than expected

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in the region to help maintain the truce under Trump's plan.

"We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate," he declared talking at the start of a government session.

On the end of the week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "a lot of nations" had offered to be involved in the force - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.

This seemed like a reference to Turkey, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's participation.

It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an agreement with Hamas.

Israel initiated a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen took the lives of about 1,200 individuals and took 251 others as hostages.

No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza from that time, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.