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Units from Egypt and the ICRC have been authorized to search for the bodies of deceased hostages captured during the October 7th incidents, officials in Israel have confirmed.

The Israeli government stated that the teams have been allowed to operate past the so-called "yellow line" in the area controlled by Israeli forces in the Gaza territory.

Hamas has handed over 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered truce agreement, which requires it to hand over all remains of captives. The organization said it is now working together with Egyptian authorities.

The former US president has warned Hamas to begin returning the remains "promptly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will take action".

An official representative said the Egyptian team has been authorized to work with the ICRC to locate the remains, and would use excavator machines and trucks for the search past the "demarcation line".

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

Previously, Israel has not authorized the access of these crews.

Egypt, along with Qatar and Turkish authorities, is a principal participant of the Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was signed in the coastal city of the resort town earlier this month.

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

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

The organization does not hand over its captives - living or deceased - straight to the IDF, but rather to the ICRC, which in turn escorts them through the territory and hands them on to the Israeli military.

But the entry of Egyptian excavation teams inside the Gaza Strip is new.

After more than 24 months of intense bombardment by Israeli forces, the UN calculates that as much as 84% of the territory has been reduced to rubble.

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

It is now coordinating with the officials in Egypt.

On Sunday, an Israeli government spokesperson stated that the organization was aware of where the remains were.

"If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our hostages," the representative said.

Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on the weekend that measures would be taken if the remains of the deceased hostages were not handed back quickly.

"A portion of the remains are difficult to access, but others they can hand over now and, for some reason, they are not. Maybe it has to do with their disarming," he said.

He added: "Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this with great attention."

• Gaza minors dying as they wait for Israel to enable evacuations
• The US Secretary of State says many countries prepared to participate in the region's peacekeeping unit
• New images show Israeli control line deeper into the territory than expected

On the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would determine which international troops it would allow as part of a proposed international force in the region to help maintain the ceasefire under the former president's initiative.

"We are in control of our safety, and we have also stated explicitly regarding international forces that we will decide which forces are not acceptable to us, and this is how we function and will continue to operate," he said speaking at the start of a government session.

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

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

It was still uncertain, however, how this contingent could be deployed without an understanding with the organization.

The Israeli military launched a armed operation in Gaza in response to the incidents of October 7th, in which militants associated with the group killed about 1,200 people and captured 251 additional persons as hostages.

At least 68,519 have been killed in military actions in Gaza from that time, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.