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Teams from Egyptian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been granted permission to search for the remains of deceased hostages taken during the 7 October attacks, officials in Israel have confirmed.

The authorities in Israel stated that the crews have been permitted to operate beyond the so-called "demarcation line" in the area controlled by military personnel in the Gaza territory.

Hamas has transferred fifteen out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a American-mediated truce agreement, which mandates it to hand over all hostage bodies. The organization stated it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has cautions the organization to start return the bodies "promptly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will intervene".

An Israeli spokesperson said the crew from Egypt has been authorized to work with the ICRC to locate the bodies, and would use digging equipment and trucks for the search beyond the "yellow line".

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

Previously, Israel has not authorized the access of such teams.

Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkey, is a key signatory of the Trump-brokered peace initiative for Gaza, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.

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

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been heavily involved in the return of captives.

The organization does not transfer its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the Israel Defense Forces, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza and transfers them to the Israeli military.

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

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

The group says it is doing its best to recover hostage bodies, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.

On the weekend, an official representative stated that Hamas knew where the remains were.

"If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the remains of our captives," the spokesperson 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 quickly.

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

He continued: "Let's see what they accomplish over the coming two days. I am watching this with great attention."

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On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would decide which foreign forces it would permit as part of a proposed 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 decide which units are unacceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he said talking at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated "a lot of countries" had volunteered to be part of the contingent - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be satisfied with those taking part.

This seemed like a reference to Turkey, amid reports Israeli officials had rejected the country's participation.

It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be stationed without an understanding with Hamas.

Israel launched a military campaign in the territory in following the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and captured 251 others as hostages.

At least sixty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the area's Hamas-run health ministry.