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

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that its personnel accompanied Hamas officials into areas of the Gaza Strip still under IDF control to support the hunt for the remains of individuals held captive.

Ceasefire Agreements and Captive Remains Handover

Under the truce negotiated by the United States, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is obligated to hand over the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. As a reciprocal measure, the Israeli government has agreed to transfer 15 Palestinian bodies for every Israeli body returned.

The organization has so far returned the bodies of 15 of those held captive but none in the last five days, as a portion of those bodies are believed to be in areas past the yellow line designating the temporary truce line.

Red Cross Role as Neutral Intermediary

“At the request of the parties, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) joined a party to the conflict as the party searched for the remains of the deceased beyond the IDF-designated ‘yellow line’,” said a spokesperson for the organization.

The spokesperson added: “Those involved to the conflict determined the modalities of the mission and delegated the Red Cross to act as a impartial mediator. The ICRC was not involved in the discussions.”

The official further clarified: “The ICRC was not involved in the search for the deceased nor does it engage in the retrieval of remains.”

International Humanitarian Law and Responsibilities

Under international humanitarian law, it is the duty of the parties engaged in a hostilities to search for, collect, and retrieve human remains.

US Demand and Local Recovery Operations

Recently, the US president delivered a 48-hour ultimatum to the organization. “Hamas is going to have to begin returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including American citizens, promptly, or the additional nations participating in this great peace will take action,” he wrote on his online channel.

When the two-day window neared, Hamas, joined by the ICRC, teamed up with teams from Egypt, who were authorised by Israel to search for bodies past the boundary indicating the Israeli military’s pullback inside Gaza. An official representative said the delegation would use excavator machines and trucks in the search.

Official Verification and Media Reports

The news was supported by an source within Israel, who told Hebrew-language media that members of the group had been permitted to access sections of the region under military authority to look for the bodies of hostages, alongside Egypt’s and ICRC teams.

“For this purpose, representatives were permitted to pass the yellow line,” the source was quoted as stating.

Video released by a media outlet seemed to show individuals of a specialized group – belonging to the group’s armed faction tasked with guarding hostages – accompanying a humanitarian transport in a specific location near Rafah, which lies outside IDF jurisdiction.

Challenges in Locating Captive Remains

The search for the bodies of individuals taken captive has turned into one of the most delicate issues in the truce reached between the two sides. Yet, the attempt to find the remains has been challenging from the outset, given the presence of an approximate 60m tonnes of debris across the strip, where, as per health officials, at least 10,000 Palestinians are listed as unaccounted for, trapped under the rubble.

Conflicting Claims on Remains Location

Hamas has claimed it does not know the exact whereabouts of all the bodies, saying it has lost contact with several of its units that had been holding the hostages and were allegedly eliminated during Israeli bombardments.

However, an official representative claimed that the organization was aware of the whereabouts of the remains. “If Hamas exerted greater effort, they would be able to retrieve the bodies of our captives,” the spokesperson said.

American Stance and Disarmament Talks

Although the US president has acknowledged that some of the bodies are difficult to access, he said that “others they can hand over immediately and, for some reason, they are not.”

“It may have to do with the disarming of the group,” he added.

The US administration has said it has obtained guarantees from Hamas that the group will surrender its arms, though no specific schedule has been set. They remains reluctant to surrender its arms without solid guarantees about the fate of its members.