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Teams from Egypt 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 confirmed.

The Israeli government stated that the teams have been allowed to search past the so-called "demarcation line" in the region under the control of military personnel in the Gaza territory.

The group has handed over fifteen out of twenty-eight hostages who lost their lives under the first phase of a American-mediated ceasefire deal, which requires it to transfer all remains of captives. The group stated it is now working together with officials in Egypt.

Donald Trump has warned the organization to start return the remains "promptly, or the other countries involved in this significant peace will intervene".

An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team has been permitted to collaborate with the ICRC to find the bodies, and would use excavator machines and vehicles for the search beyond the "yellow line".

The "demarcation line" indicates the boundary running along the northern, southern and eastern of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the initial phase of the truce agreement.

Previously, Israeli authorities has not authorized the access of these crews.

The Egyptian government, along with Qatari officials and Turkish authorities, is a key signatory of the mediated by Trump Gaza peace plan, which was ratified in the Egyptian resort of the resort town earlier this month.

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

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

Hamas does not hand over its detainees - living or deceased - directly to the IDF, but instead to the Red Cross, which in turn escorts them through Gaza 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 intense bombardment by Israeli forces, 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 recover remains of captives, but it encounters challenges locating them under rubble of structures bombed out by the IDF in the region.

It is now working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.

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

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

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that action would be implemented if the remains of the deceased hostages were not handed back quickly.

"Some of the remains are difficult to access, but the rest they can hand over at present and, for unknown reasons, they are not. Perhaps it has do with their disarming," he said.

Trump added: "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 Israeli authorities to enable evacuations
• The US Secretary of State states many countries prepared to participate in Gaza peacekeeping unit
• Recent photographs reveal Israeli control line further into Gaza than anticipated

On the weekend, the Israeli leader announced the country would decide which foreign forces it would permit as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help maintain the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.

"We are in command of our safety, and we have also made it clear regarding foreign troops that Israel will decide which units are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will proceed," he said speaking at the start of a government session.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "numerous countries" had volunteered to be involved in the force - but noted Israeli authorities would have to be comfortable with those taking part.

This seemed like a reference to the Turkish government, amid accounts Israeli officials had rejected the country's participation.

It was still uncertain, however, how such a force could be deployed 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 took the lives of about 1,200 people and took two hundred fifty-one others as hostages.

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