Some of whom will help with finding the remains of 19 hostages still unaccounted for, a defence ministry source said Thursday.
The announcement came as Israel is preparing for the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date for when that would take place. Follow our live for the latest developments.
Turkey joins multinational task force to locate bodies of Israeli captives in Gaza
Turkey will join Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar in a multinational task force to locate the bodies of Israeli captives believed to have been killed in Gaza
Despite the cease-fire agreement in Gaza, Israeli attacks continue
The task force will try to find the remains of Israeli captives seized by Hamas in October 2023 [Getty]
Turkey will take part in a multinational task force alongside Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to locate the bodies of Israeli captives, Turkish and Israeli officials confirmed on Thursday.
The decision was reached during the mediated negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, which led to the ceasefire and prisoner-exchange agreement announced overnight by US President Donald Trump.
The joint initiative will focus on recovering the remains of captives whose locations are still unknown after more than two years of conflict.
A senior Turkish official told reporters the task force would “provide logistical and technical assistance, including heavy equipment for excavation and demolition if necessary”, to ensure that “as many remains as possible are recovered alongside the living hostages within 72 hours”.
Race against 72-hour deadline
Under the terms of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, all living and dead hostages are to be returned to Israel within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking effect.
However, negotiators acknowledged that Hamas had informed mediators that it does not know the location of some of the hostages, and the process could take longer.
According to Israeli officials, 48 hostages remain in Gaza, including the at least 26 confirmed dead. About 20 are believed to be alive, with two others unaccounted for.
Israeli government coordinator for hostage affairs Gal Hirsch said the joint task force was formed “to overcome expected difficulties and to ensure the full return of both the living and the dead”.
“We acted to set up an international task force that will have everything needed, including information and resources, to return the hostages to Israel,” Hirsch told Haaretz.
Israeli officials told CNN that Hamas may not be able to locate up to 10–15 bodies, based on intelligence shared during the talks.
“The assessments are ongoing,” one official said, adding that Israeli forces expect the recovery process to continue after the 72-hour window.
During previous truces, Hamas released most of the 254 Israeli captives it seized on October 7 2023. Israel has freed roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners over the course of these exchanges.
