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Teams from Egyptian authorities and the ICRC have been authorized to locate the bodies of hostages who perished taken during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have verified.

The authorities in Israel stated that the teams have been permitted to search past the referred to as "demarcation line" in the region under the control of Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.

The group has handed over 15 out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The group said it is now coordinating with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "quickly, or the additional nations participating in this significant peace will intervene".

An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been permitted to work with the Red Cross to locate the bodies, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the operation past the "demarcation line".

The "yellow line" marks the border running along the north, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israel pulled back to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

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

The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the coastal city of the resort town in recent weeks.

The development will be welcomed by relatives, desperate to give them a proper burial.

The ICRC has already been deeply engaged in the return of hostages.

Hamas does not hand over its captives - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and transfers them to the Israeli military.

But the arrival of digging crews from Egypt inside the Gaza Strip is a recent development.

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

The group claims it is making every effort to retrieve hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in the region.

It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.

On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson said that the organization knew where the bodies were.

"If the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages," the representative said.

Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that action would be taken if the remains of the deceased hostages were not returned promptly.

"Some of the remains are hard to reach, but the rest they can return at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their demilitarization," he remarked.

Trump continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the next 48 hours. I am monitoring the situation with great attention."

• Gaza children losing their lives as they wait for Israel to permit evacuations
• The US Secretary of State says lots of countries willing to participate in the region's security force
• Recent photographs show demarcation zone further into Gaza than anticipated

On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would decide which international troops it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in Gaza to help secure the truce under the former president's initiative.

"We are in command of our security, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that we will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, the American diplomat indicated "a lot of nations" had offered to be part of the contingent - but added Israel would have to be satisfied with those taking part.

This seemed like a allusion to Turkey, amid reports Israeli officials had rejected the nation's involvement.

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

Israel launched a military campaign in the territory in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group took the lives of about 1,200 people and took 251 additional persons as hostages.

At least 68,519 have been lost their lives in military actions in Gaza since then, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.