International Committee of the Red Cross Assists Hamas in Recovery for Remains of Captives in Gaza Strip

A Red Cross official confirmed that its personnel joined members of Hamas into zones of Gaza still under IDF authority to support the search for the bodies of Israeli hostages.

Truce Agreements and Captive Remains Handover

As part of the US-brokered ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, Hamas is obligated to hand over the bodies of all Israeli hostages promptly. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for every Israeli body returned.

Hamas has so far returned the bodies of fifteen of those taken hostage but none in the past five days, as some of those remains are thought to be in locations past the ceasefire boundary marking Gaza’s ceasefire.

Red Cross Involvement as Impartial Facilitator

“At the request of the parties, the Red Cross accompanied a party to the conflict as the group looked for the remains of the deceased individuals beyond the IDF-designated ‘yellow boundary’,” stated a spokesperson for the committee.

The spokesperson continued: “The parties to the conflict established the modalities of the operation and delegated the ICRC to serve as a impartial mediator. We was not involved in the discussions.”

She further clarified: “Our team was not involved in the search for the bodies nor does it engage in the retrieval of human remains.”

International Legal Standards and Responsibilities

Under global legal norms, it is the duty of the parties involved in a hostilities to locate, gather, and recover the bodies of the deceased.

American Ultimatum and Local Search Efforts

Recently, the US president delivered a 48-hour ultimatum to the organization. “Hamas is going to have to start handing over the remains of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the additional nations involved in this great peace will take action,” he posted on his online channel.

When the 48-hour deadline approached, the group, joined by the Red Cross, joined Egyptian teams, who were granted permission by Israel to search for bodies past the line indicating the withdrawal of troops inside the territory. An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team would use excavator machines and vehicles in the operation.

Authoritative Confirmation and Media Coverage

This development was supported by an unnamed Israeli official, who told Hebrew-language media that members of the group had been permitted to access areas of the region under Israel Defense Forces (IDF) control to look for the remains of captives, alongside Egypt’s and Red Cross teams.

“To achieve this goal, representatives were permitted to cross the designated boundary,” the official was cited as saying.

Video released by a regional network seemed to show members of a Hamas unit – belonging to the organization’s armed faction tasked with guarding hostages – accompanying a humanitarian transport in a specific location close to a southern city, which is beyond Israeli military control.

Difficulties in Finding Hostage Bodies

The search for the remains of Israeli hostages has turned into one of the most delicate matters in the ceasefire agreed between the parties. Yet, the effort to find the bodies has been challenging from the beginning, given the existence of an estimated 60m tonnes of rubble across the territory, where, as per health officials, at least 10,000 Palestinians are recorded as unaccounted for, trapped under the debris.

Conflicting Claims on Body Location

Hamas has stated it lacks information on the exact whereabouts of all the bodies, saying it has lost contact with several of its units that had been holding the captives and were reportedly eliminated during Israeli bombardments.

However, an official representative asserted that Hamas was aware of the locations of the bodies. “If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to recover the bodies of our captives,” the spokesperson said.

American Position and Disarmament Discussions

While the American leader has conceded that some of the remains are difficult to reach, he said that “the rest they can return immediately and, for unknown reasons, they are failing to do so.”

“This could be related to the disarming of the group,” he added.

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