A joint Israeli-US-Qatari-Egyptian task force will be established to locate the remains of deceased hostages whose location is unknown.

A source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the task force will provide heavy equipment for tasks such as digging or demolishing buildings to reach the bodies of the deceased.

The goal of the task force is to return as many remains of abducted individuals as possible to Israel, along with the living hostages, within 72 hours.

Hamas had begun collecting the remains of deceased hostages, Arab media reports

This comes after US President Donald Trump announced early on Thursday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

The agreement was announced after intensive talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, where US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner pushed the two parties to an agreement, along with Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Celebrations at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv as negotiators set to sign deal freeing all hostages from Gaza, October 9, 2025
Celebrations at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv as negotiators set to sign deal freeing all hostages from Gaza, October 9, 2025 (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

The plan was signed at noon in Egypt, and will come into effect after the Israeli government ratifies it in a vote set for 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Twenty living hostages are expected to be released within 72 hours of the deal taking effect. Additionally, Arab reports indicated that Hamas had begun collecting the remains of deceased hostages to return to Israel.

In the immediate wake of the announcement of the deal, the IDF began preparing to shift its deployment lines in the Gaza Strip after The Post previously reported Israel had reached a full agreement on the maps detailing the military's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.