Israel allows Hamas to search for captives’ remains in army-controlled Gaza: report
Search efforts continue in Gaza as Hamas, the Red Cross and Egyptian teams coordinate to recover the remains of captives.
Israel has allowed the Palestinian group Hamas to enter areas under the army’s control in Gaza to search for captives’ remains, Israeli media reported on Monday.
Israeli Channel 12, citing security officers, said Hamas has been working in cooperation with the Red Cross and Egyptian teams for the past 24 hours to locate the remains of captives in areas still occupied by the Israeli army beyond the “yellow line.”
The “yellow line” is an imaginary line separating areas currently occupied by the Israeli army in Gaza from those where it had pulled out.
The outlet said Israel and Hamas exchanged information on the estimated locations of the bodies through mediators over the weekend to accelerate the process.
Truce plan
Israel confirmed on Sunday that it had allowed Red Cross and Egyptian teams beyond the “yellow line” in Gaza to help in the search for captives’ remains.
Under the first phase of a ceasefire deal that took effect on October 10, Hamas has released 20 living Israeli captives and the bodies of 16 others.
The remains of 12 captives are still in the enclave.
The ceasefire plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has killed over 68,500 people and injured more than 170,300 others since October 2023, according to Palestinian authorities.