Red Cross Assists Hamas in Search for Bodies of Israeli Hostages in Gaza Strip

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that its representatives accompanied members of Hamas into areas of Gaza currently controlled by Israeli military control to facilitate the hunt for the remains of individuals held captive.

Ceasefire Terms and Hostage Remains Return

Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which began on 10 October, the group is required to hand over the remains of all captives promptly. In exchange, Israel has agreed to transfer 15 Palestinian bodies for every Israeli body returned.

The organization has so far handed back the remains of 15 of those taken hostage but none in the past five days, as a portion of those remains are believed to be in locations beyond the yellow line marking Gaza’s ceasefire.

ICRC Role as Neutral Intermediary

“Upon the appeal of the parties, the Red Cross joined a party to the conflict as the party looked for the remains of the deceased beyond the IDF-designated ‘yellow line’,” stated a spokesperson for the organization.

The spokesperson added: “The parties to the hostilities determined the modalities of the mission and delegated the Red Cross to serve as a impartial mediator. We was had no part in the discussions.”

The official further explained: “Our team was not involved in the physical hunt for the bodies nor does it engage in the retrieval of remains.”

International Humanitarian Law and Responsibilities

Under international humanitarian law, it is the responsibility of the parties involved in a hostilities to search for, collect, and recover the bodies of the deceased.

US Ultimatum and Regional Recovery Operations

Recently, the US president delivered a two-day ultimatum to the militant group. “They is going to have to start returning the remains of the hostages who died, including two Americans, quickly, or the other countries involved in this significant truce will take action,” he posted on his online channel.

As the two-day window neared, Hamas, joined by the ICRC, teamed up with Egyptian teams, who were authorised by Israeli authorities to look for remains past the line marking the withdrawal of troops inside Gaza. An official representative said the Egyptian team would use excavator machines and vehicles in the search.

Official Verification and Press Coverage

The news was corroborated by an unnamed Israeli official, who told Hebrew-language media that members of the group had been permitted to access sections of the region under Israel Defense Forces (IDF) control to search for the remains of captives, together with Egyptian and Red Cross teams.

“For this purpose, Hamas members were permitted to pass the designated boundary,” the official was cited as stating.

Video published by a regional network appeared to show members of a specialized group – belonging to the organization’s armed faction tasked with holding captives – accompanying a Red Cross vehicle in a coastal area close to Rafah, which is beyond Israeli military control.

Challenges in Locating Captive Remains

The search for the bodies of Israeli hostages has become one of the most delicate matters in the truce agreed between the parties. Yet, the effort to find the bodies has proved difficult from the beginning, given the existence of an estimated 60m tonnes of debris across the territory, where, as per local health authorities, at least ten thousand Palestinians are listed as missing, buried under the debris.

Conflicting Statements on Body Location

Hamas has stated it lacks information on the exact locations of all the remains, saying it has been unable to communicate with several of its teams that had been detaining the captives and were allegedly eliminated during military strikes.

In contrast, an Israeli government spokesperson asserted that the organization was aware of the locations of the remains. “Should the group made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our captives,” the spokesperson said.

American Position and Disarmament Talks

Although the American leader has acknowledged that some of the remains are hard to reach, he said that “the rest they can hand over now and, for some reason, they are failing to do so.”

“This could be related to the surrender of weapons of Hamas,” he noted.

The US administration has said it has obtained guarantees from Hamas that the group will disarm, though no clear timeline has been set. The militant organisation remains reluctant to surrender its weapons without solid guarantees about the fate of its members.