Israel Allows Hamas Member To Enter IDF-Controlled Area In Gaza To Search For Bodies

Last Updated:October 28, 2025, 00:44 IST

Israel allowed a Hamas member into IDF-controlled Gaza to help Red Cross and Egyptian teams search for 13 deceased hostages, amid ongoing ceasefire challenges

The Red Cross, the Egyptian technical team, and a Hamas person have been permitted to enter beyond the IDF's Yellow Line position in Gaza under close IDF supervision. (AFP)

The Israeli government on Monday said that it has allowed a member of Hamas into the area in Gaza, which is controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), to assist Red Cross and Egyptian personnel in search for the bodies of 13 remaining deceased hostages taken during the October 7, 2023.

“The Red Cross, the Egyptian technical team, and a Hamas person have been permitted to enter beyond the IDF’s Yellow Line position in Gaza under close IDF supervision," government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told a briefing.

She further said that Egypt would be providing more equipment, including “tractor-type vehicles", for the search of bodies.

Israel has accused Hamas of violating the two-week-old ceasefire deal as it has returned only 15 of the 28 hostages’ bodies.

Meanwhile, the militant group has emphasised that it remains committed to the ceasefire deal, which was brokered by the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

According to the ceasefire deal on October 10, there will be an exchange of 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

While 20 living Israeli hostages were released soon after the signing, Israel has handed over the bodies of 195 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of 13 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas. Of 13 deceased hostages, 11 are Israelis, one is Tanzanian, and one is Thai.

BBC quoted the Israeli government as saying that the teams have been permitted to search beyond the so-called “yellow line" in the area controlled by Israeli forces in Gaza.

The “yellow line" is the boundary along the north, south and east of Gaza that Israel withdrew to, as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

“Hamas knows where they are located and there is no other option but for them to be released back home," Bedrosian said.

On Saturday, Hamas’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement that the group was facing “challenges" because Israeli forces had “altered the terrain of Gaza".

“Moreover, some of those who buried the bodies have been martyred or no longer remember where they buried them," he added.

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