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Units from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been authorized to locate the bodies of hostages who perished captured during the 7 October attacks, Israeli authorities have verified.

The authorities in Israel announced that the teams have been permitted to operate past the so-called "demarcation line" in the area controlled by Israeli forces in Gaza.

The group has handed over fifteen out of 28 hostages who lost their lives under the initial stage of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates it to hand over all hostage bodies. The group said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has warned the organization to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will take action".

An official representative indicated the Egyptian team has been authorized to collaborate with the Red Cross to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search past the "demarcation line".

The "demarcation line" marks the border running along the northern, southern and eastern of the Gaza territory that Israeli forces withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the truce agreement.

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

Egypt, along with Qatari officials and Turkey, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the coastal city of the resort town in recent weeks.

The development will be welcomed by family members, desperate to provide a dignified funeral.

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

The organization does not transfer its detainees - alive or deceased - straight to the IDF, but instead to the ICRC, which in turn accompanies them through the territory and hands them on to the IDF.

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

After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israel, the United Nations calculates that as much as 84% of the area has been reduced to rubble.

Hamas says it is making every effort to retrieve remains of captives, but it encounters challenges locating them under debris of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.

On the weekend, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that Hamas knew where the remains were.

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

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

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

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

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On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would determine which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned multinational contingent in the region to help maintain the ceasefire 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 units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he said talking at the start of a cabinet meeting.

On the end of the week, the American diplomat indicated "a lot of countries" had offered to be involved in the contingent - but added Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

This seemed like a allusion to the Turkish government, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country's participation.

It remained unclear, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an agreement with the organization.

Israel initiated a military campaign in the territory in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 individuals and took two hundred fifty-one others as captives.

No fewer than 68,519 have been killed in military actions in the region since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.