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Units from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to search for the remains of deceased hostages taken during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have confirmed.

The Israeli government announced that the crews have been permitted to search past the so-called "demarcation line" in the region under the control of military personnel in Gaza.

Hamas has handed over fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates 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 Hamas to start return the remains "promptly, or the other countries participating in this great peace will take action".

An official representative said the crew from Egypt has been permitted to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and vehicles for the search beyond the "demarcation line".

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

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

Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the coastal city of the resort town in recent weeks.

The development will be greeted positively by family members, desperate to provide a proper burial.

The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the repatriation of captives.

The organization does not hand over its captives - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and hands them on to the Israeli military.

But the entry of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza territory is a recent development.

After more than two years of heavy shelling by Israel, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the area has been destroyed completely.

The group says it is doing its best to retrieve remains of captives, but it faces difficulty locating them under debris of buildings bombed out by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.

On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that the organization was aware of where the remains were.

"If Hamas put in greater work, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the representative commented.

Trump shared on his social media account on Saturday that action would be taken if the remains of the hostages who died were not handed back promptly.

"Some of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can hand over now and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming," he remarked.

He added: "Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."

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On Sunday, the Israeli leader announced Israel would determine which international troops it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help secure the truce under the former president's initiative.

"We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding foreign troops that we will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will proceed," he said speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

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

This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israel had vetoed the country's involvement.

It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be stationed without an understanding with the organization.

The Israeli military launched a armed operation in Gaza in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen took the lives of about twelve hundred people and took two hundred fifty-one additional persons as captives.

No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.