Exclusive: Red Cross acts as ‘neutral intermediary’ to recover remains of hostages in areas under Israeli control
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) accompanied Hamas members into areas of Gaza still under the control of the Israeli army to facilitate the search for the bodies of Israeli hostages, an ICRC official told the Guardian.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10, Hamas is obliged to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as quickly as possible. In return, Israel agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for every Israeli.
Hamas has already returned the remains of 15 of those held captive, but none in the past five days, as some of those bodies are believed to be in areas beyond the yellow line marking Gaza’s ceasefire.
“At the request of the parties, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) yesterday accompanied a party to the conflict as it searched for the remains of the deceased beyond the IDF-designated ‘yellow line’,” said Sarah Davies, ICRC spokeswoman.
The parties to the conflict determined the modalities of the operation and entrusted the ICRC with the role of neutral intermediary. The ICRC was not involved in these negotiations.
Davies added: “The ICRC was not involved in the search for the dead nor does it participate in the physical recovery of the remains.”
A Red Cross official confirmed to the Guardian that the party named in the statement was Hamas.
Under international humanitarian law, it is the responsibility of parties to a conflict to search for, collect and recover human remains.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the militant group. “Hamas will have to begin returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other countries involved in this great peace will take action,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
As the 48-hour deadline approached, Hamas, joined by the ICRC, joined the Egyptian teams, which were authorized by Israel on Sunday to search for remains beyond the line marking the Israeli military withdrawal inside Gaza. An Israeli spokesman said the Egyptian team would use excavators and trucks in the search.
The news was corroborated by an unnamed Israeli official, who told Hebrew-language media that Hamas representatives were allowed to enter areas of Gaza under the control of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to search for the bodies of hostages, along with Egyptian and Red Cross teams.
“For this purpose, Hamas members were allowed to cross the yellow line,” the official said, quoted by Army Radio.
Images published by Qatar’s Al-Araby network appear to show members of Hamas’s “Shadow Unit” — part of the group’s military wing tasked with protecting hostages — accompanying a Red Cross vehicle in al-Mawasi, near Rafah, which is outside Israeli military control.
Contacted by the Guardian about the alleged presence of Hamas representatives in areas under Israeli control to search for the remains of hostages, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The search for the bodies of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas has become one of the most sensitive issues in the ceasefire agreed between the two sides. However, the effort to locate the remains proved difficult from the start, given the estimated presence of 60 million tons of rubble in the Gaza Strip, where, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 10,000 Palestinians are registered as missing, buried under the rubble.
Hamas claimed it did not know the precise whereabouts of all the bodies, saying it had lost contact with several of its units that held the prisoners and were believed to have been killed during Israeli bombings.
However, on Sunday, an Israeli government spokesman claimed that Hamas knew the whereabouts of the bodies. “If Hamas tried harder, it would be able to recover the remains of our hostages,” the spokesman said.
Although Trump admitted that some of the bodies are difficult to reach, the US president said that “others may return now and for some reason do not.”
“It may have to do with the disarmament of Hamas,” he added.
Washington said it has received assurances from Hamas that the group will disarm, although a clear timeline has not been set. The militant organization remains reluctant to hand over its weapons without firm guarantees about the future of its fighters.
Originally published by The Guardian on 10/27/2025
By Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/10/27/cruz-vermelha-acompanha-hamas-na-busca-por-corpos-de-refens-israelenses-em-gaza/
