Israeli army searching for remains of hostages beyond ‘yellow line’ in Gaza

The Israeli army is conducting searches beyond the yellow line in the Gaza Strip to find remains of hostages, public broadcaster KAN reported.

KAN, citing a security source, said late Saturday that the searches for the bodies of hostages are taking place in areas controlled by the army within the "yellow line," a non-physical demarcation line that the Israeli troops withdrew to in Gaza under the ceasefire agreement reached earlier this month.

The yellow line extends from south of northern Gaza down to the outskirts of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The operations are being carried out based on "intelligence estimates" indicating the possibility of finding bodies there, the source said.

"Starting Sunday, heavy engineering vehicles will be allowed to enter Gaza to help speed up search operations," the source said, without giving further details.

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said in an interview that the group will enter more areas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to continue searches for remains of Israeli hostages.

Since Oct. 13, Hamas has released the 20 living Israeli hostages and returned the bodies of 16 others, leaving 12, as part of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on Oct. 10.

The Israeli genocidal war has killed over 68,000 people and injured more than 170,000 others since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.