Egyptian convoy enters Gaza to help recover hostage remains

GAZA: A convoy of Egyptian trucks and vehicles transporting heavy machinery entered Gaza overnight to help locate the remains of Israeli hostages in the territory, AFP footage showed.

The vehicles were filmed in Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request on Sunday morning for confirmation that the vehicles had entered.

But The Times of Israel had reported that  Benjamin Netanyahu personally approved the entry of the Egyptian team and several engineering vehicles to the Palestinian territory to locate the missing remains.

On Saturday night, Egyptian state-linked Al-Qahera News channel reported that the team was on its way to Gaza.

Two Egyptian military sources had also confirmed to AFP that the convoy was at the Kerem Shalom crossing Saturday night, awaiting authorisation to cross into the Palestinian territory.

On October 17, a Turkish official had announced that a team of 81 rescuers sent by Ankara to locate the hostages’ bodies in Gaza was waiting in Egypt to enter the strip.

But the Turkish team never received approval from Israel, amid reports that Israel objected to any Turkish involvement in Gaza.

Based on the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian militant group was due to return all 48 remaining hostages, alive and dead, who were still held in the territory, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held by Israel.

But only 15 of the 28 dead hostages have been returned so far, with the remaining bodies buried under the rubble across the devastated territory, and Hamas calling for tools and assistance to locate them.