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Teams from Egypt and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the bodies of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have verified.

The Israeli government stated that the teams have been allowed to operate past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the area under the control of military personnel in Gaza.

The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The group said it is now working together with officials in Egypt.

Donald Trump has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "quickly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will take action".

An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to locate the remains, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the search beyond the "demarcation line".

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

Until now, Israel has not authorized the access of these crews.

The Egyptian government, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered peace initiative for Gaza, which was signed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.

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

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

The organization does not transfer its captives - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through the territory and transfers them to the IDF.

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

After more than 24 months of heavy shelling by Israel, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been reduced to rubble.

The group says it is making every effort to recover remains of captives, but it encounters challenges finding them under rubble of structures destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.

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

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

"A portion of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can hand over at present and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their demilitarization," he remarked.

Trump added: "We will observe what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this with great attention."

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On the weekend, the Israeli leader announced the country would decide which foreign forces it would allow as part of a proposed international force in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan.

"We are in command of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that we will determine which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he said talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

On Friday, the American diplomat indicated "numerous countries" had offered to be involved in the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with participants.

This appeared to be a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israel had rejected the nation's participation.

It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.

Israel launched a armed operation in the territory in following the incidents of October 7th, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about twelve hundred people and captured 251 others as captives.

At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in the region from that time, according to the area's health authorities under the group's control.