Israel will open the Rafah crossing as planned today in a U-turn after Hamas returned the bodies of four more hostages, according to reports. It comes as Benjamin Netanyahu warned “all hell” will break loose if Hamas doesn’t agree to disarm. Listen to The World podcast as you scroll.
Wednesday 15 October 2025 07:35, UK
Hamas returned four more bodies to Israel last night, with three of their identities now confirmed.
Uriel Baruch, 55, was taken from the Supernova music festival on October 7 2023.
The Israeli military told his family in March 2024 that, based on new intelligence, Baruch had been killed on October 7 and his body was taken hostage.
Eitan Levi, 53, is another to have been identified after the latest return of bodies by Hamas.
He was missing for more than 40 days before being officially recognised as a hostage after October 7.
After 62 days, the IDF told his family that he was presumed killed while in captivity in Gaza.
Tamir Nimrodi, 19, was a soldier taken hostage from his base near the Erez Crossing on October 7.
Israel had expressed “grave concern” but, until now, hadn’t confirmed what had happened to him.
Nimrodi’s family say he was “murdered in Hamas captivity”, while the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said he was “killed by IDF bombings in captivity”.
The identity of the fourth body is yet to be confirmed.
Yesterday, Israel identified the first four bodies returned by Hamas this week, which were handed over on Monday.
They were idenitifed as the remains of Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illouz, Daniel Peretz and Bipin Joshi.
It means eight bodies have now been handed over, with 20 others yet to be returned.
Donald Trump’s peace plan required Hamas to return all of the hostages, living and dead, by the end of a 72-hour deadline which expired on Monday.
The delay to returning the remaining hostages has prompted warnings from Israel to Hamas (see our 6.46 post), while the group said it could struggle to locate all of the remains.
By Celine Alkhaldi, Middle East producer
A freed Palestinian prisoner, one of about 1,700 detainees from Gaza who had been held by Israel without charge, has described scenes of systematic torture, humiliation and death inside Israeli detention.
Akram al Basyouni, 45, from northern Gaza, says he was detained on 10 December 2023 at a shelter school in Jabalia and spent nearly two years in custody, including at the Sde Teiman military base.
“Many of our fellow prisoners were beaten to the point of death,” he told Sky News. “When we cried out to the guards for help, they would answer coldly, ‘Let him die’. Five minutes later they would take the body away, wrap it in a bag, and shut the door.”
Al Basyouni said detainees were routinely tortured, beaten with batons and fists, attacked by dogs and gassed during what guards called a “reception ceremony”.
“They beat us so savagely our ribs were shattered. They poured boiling water over the faces and backs of young men until their skin peeled away. We sat on cold metal floors for days, punished even for asking for help.”
Sky News has contacted the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and the Israel Defense Forces for comment but has not yet received a response.
Benjamin Netanyahu has warned “all hell” will break loose if Hamas doesn’t agree to disarm.
It comes after Donald Trump warned “if they [Hamas] don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it will happen quickly and perhaps violently”.
“We agree to give peace a chance,” Israel’s prime minister told CBS News.
Netanyahu was asked what it would take for him to declare the war in Gaza as being over, and said: “I think that, for the foreseeable future, not only for Israel but for the free world, and for the civilised world, you have to maintain your ability to defend yourself, because freedom is not permanent, nor is it automatic.
“If you cannot defend free societies, they will be overtaken by authoritarian or totalitarian regimes.”
Netanyahu also reiterated one of Trump’s lines, saying “the way you purchase peace is through strength”.
After the US president told the Knesset Netanyahu wasn’t one of “the easiest to deal with” on Monday, the Israeli prime minister said “I’m very tough on the matters that pertain to my country’s future”.
“When I believe that what I’m asked to do is fine, I say [it] is, and when I think I have to say ‘no,’ I say it,” he added.
“And that’s my job. My job is to protect the Jewish state and assure the future of the Jewish people.”
Watch below: Key moments of Trump’s speech in Israel on Monday
Israel has reportedly decided to reverse its decision on keeping the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed today.
According to Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Israel has now decided to open the crossing and allow the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Yesterday, Israeli officials said the crossing would remain closed and aid flow into Gaza would be reduced after Hamas failed to hand over the bodies of all the dead hostages.
Four more bodies were handed over last night, meaning 20 others are yet to be returned.
A Middle Eastern diplomat has told The Times of Israel that Hamas has informed mediators it will transfer another four bodies later today.
Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage.
Yesterday, Israel said it received the bodies of four more hostages from Gaza (after an initial four on Monday), but pressure is mounting on Hamas to locate and release 20 others.
Over in the US, Donald Trump said he received word from Hamas – through “his people” – that the group would disarm, but he also warned “if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it will happen quickly and perhaps violently”.
Meanwhile, the families of hostages in Israel spoke for the first time since many of their loved ones were released, urging the Israeli government to “finish the job” and bring the remaining bodies home.
Stay with us for live updates throughout the day.
Thanks for following our live coverage. We’ll be back in the morning with the latest updates.
Until then, here’s a recap of what’s happened so far today:
Watch below: Trump’s threat to Hamas
Two controversial Israeli ministers have shared their thoughts on Hamas’s failure to hand over the bodies of all 28 remaining hostages in Gaza, per the ceasefire agreement.
Bezalel Smotrich, the country’s far-right finance chief, said on X that “only military pressure brings back hostages”.
Smotrich threatened to resign as a minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in August after “losing faith” in the Israeli prime minister’s war strategy in Gaza.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, another far-right minister in Netanyahu’s government, has called on the leader to issue an ultimatum to Hamas: immediately return the bodies or Israel will immediately halt all aid entering Gaza.
“The fact that Hamas allows itself to continue playing games and delaying the release of the bodies of our fallen soldiers indicates that the terrorist organisation is still alive and well, and that the mission to destroy it has not yet been achieved – and must be achieved as soon as possible, as part of the goals of the war.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir
Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir opposed the ceasefire deal when it was agreed last week, with the pair said to have made their opposition known in a cabinet meeting attended by Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The pair are sanctioned by countries including the UK, Canada and Australia for “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian civilians”.
The cousin of a hostage who died in Gaza has said that the Israeli government must “take responsibility” for bringing the bodies of the hostages home, after its decision to carry on the war for two years.
Udi Goren tells international correspondent Alex Rossi that the government must now do “whatever it takes to clear the rubble”.
He also called on Palestinians and other Middle Eastern nations to join the search for the remaining bodies.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has announced that the funeral of one of the four deceased hostages returned by Hamas yesterday will take place tomorrow.
Guy Illouz, who was taken hostage by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the October 7th attacks and killed in captivity, will be laid to rest in his hometown of Ra’anana, which is located just north of Tel Aviv.
A funeral procession will begin at 3pm local time (1pm UK time), and will travel from Rishon LeZion in the south of the city up to his final resting place.
His family has invited the public to stand along the route with Israeli flags to “accompany Guy on his final journey”.
The procession is expected to last an hour and a half, with the funeral service beginning at 4.30pm local time (2.30pm UK time). The public has been invited to attend.
Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli military has now received the bodies of four hostages, which had earlier been handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas in Gaza.
“All the families of the hostages have been updated on the matter, and in this difficult hour, our hearts are with them,” he says.
“The effort to bring back our hostages continues relentlessly and will not stop until the last hostage is returned.”
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