Red Cross Assists Militant Group in Search for Bodies of Captives in Gaza

A Red Cross official confirmed that its representatives accompanied Hamas officials into areas of Gaza still under Israeli military control to support the search for the bodies of individuals held captive.

Ceasefire Terms and Captive Remains Return

Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which began on October 10, Hamas is obligated to hand over the remains of all captives as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has consented to hand over the remains of 15 Palestinians for every Israeli body returned.

Hamas has so far returned the remains of 15 of those held captive but zero in the past five days, as some of those bodies are thought to be in areas beyond the ceasefire boundary marking the temporary truce line.

ICRC Involvement as Neutral Intermediary

“Upon the appeal of the involved sides, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) accompanied a party to the conflict as the group searched for the bodies of the deceased individuals beyond the IDF-designated ‘yellow boundary’,” said a representative for the committee.

She added: “The parties to the hostilities determined the procedures of the mission and entrusted the ICRC to act as a neutral intermediary. We was not involved in the discussions.”

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

International Humanitarian Law and Duties

According to international humanitarian law, it is the responsibility of the sides involved in a hostilities to search for, gather, and retrieve the bodies of the deceased.

US Ultimatum and Local Search Efforts

On Saturday, the American leader issued a two-day demand to the organization. “They is going to have to begin handing over the bodies of the deceased hostages, including American citizens, promptly, or the additional nations participating in this significant truce will intervene,” he wrote on his online channel.

As the two-day window neared, Hamas, accompanied by the Red Cross, joined teams from Egypt, who were authorised by Israel to look for bodies past the boundary indicating the Israeli military’s pullback inside Gaza. An Israeli spokesperson said the delegation would use heavy machinery and trucks in the search.

Official Confirmation and Press Coverage

The news was corroborated by an unnamed Israeli official, who told Hebrew-language media that Hamas representatives had been allowed to access sections of the region under military authority to look for the remains of captives, together with Egyptian and Red Cross teams.

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

Video published by a media outlet appeared to show members of a Hamas unit – part of the group’s armed faction tasked with holding hostages – accompanying a Red Cross vehicle in a specific location close to Rafah, which lies outside Israeli military control.

Difficulties in Locating Hostage Bodies

The search for the bodies of individuals taken captive has become one of the most delicate issues in the truce reached between the parties. Yet, the attempt to find the bodies has been difficult from the outset, given the presence of an approximate 60m tonnes of debris across the strip, where, according to local health authorities, at least 10,000 Palestinians are recorded as unaccounted for, buried under the debris.

Conflicting Statements on Remains Whereabouts

Hamas has stated it lacks information on the exact locations of all the bodies, saying it has lost contact with a number of its units that had been detaining the captives and were reportedly eliminated during military strikes.

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

US Position and Disarmament Talks

While the US president has acknowledged that some of the remains are hard to access, he said that “others they can return immediately and, for some reason, they are not.”

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

Washington has said it has obtained guarantees from the organization that the group will surrender its arms, though no clear timeline has been established. The militant organisation remains reluctant to give up its weapons without solid assurances about the future of its fighters.