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Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to search for the bodies of deceased hostages captured during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified.

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

The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the initial stage of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The organization said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.

The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the other countries participating in this great peace will intervene".

An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been authorized to work with the ICRC to locate the bodies, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the operation past the "yellow line".

The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the north, south and east of the Gaza territory that Israel pulled back to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.

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

Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.

The development will be greeted positively by family members, eager to provide a dignified funeral.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been deeply engaged in the return of hostages.

Hamas does not hand over its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the Israel Defense Forces, but rather to the Red Cross, which in turn accompanies them through Gaza and transfers them to the Israeli military.

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

After more than two years of intense bombardment by Israel, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the area has been reduced to rubble.

The group claims it is making every effort to recover hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges finding them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the IDF in the region.

It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.

On the weekend, an official representative said that Hamas knew where the bodies were.

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

The former president shared on his social media account on Saturday that measures would be taken if the bodies of the hostages who died were not returned promptly.

"Some of the remains are hard to reach, but others they can return at present and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has do with their disarming," he remarked.

He added: "We will observe what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am monitoring the situation very closely."

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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would decide which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan.

"We are in command of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that we will decide which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he declared speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, the American diplomat indicated "a lot of nations" had volunteered to be involved in the contingent - but noted Israel would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

This appeared to be a allusion to Turkey, amid reports Israeli officials had vetoed the country's participation.

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

Israel initiated a military campaign in Gaza in following the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group killed about twelve hundred people and captured 251 others as captives.

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