Hamas says it returned four more hostages last night – but Israel says one of the bodies doesn’t match any of the hostages. Israel won’t open the Rafah crossing into Gaza today after Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning. Follow live below – and listen to The World as you scroll.
Wednesday 15 October 2025 14:43, UK
The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is expected to reopen for people tomorrow, two sources have told Reuters, although it remains unclear if it will open for aid.
The sources added that a European Union mission will be present at the crossing.
It comes after an Israeli security official confirmed that the Rafah crossing is not open today.
The official said preparations are ongoing for its opening for the entry and exit of Gazans only.
Yesterday, Israeli officials said the Rafah 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.
Israel transferred the bodies of 45 Palestinians to the Red Cross yesterday under the first phase of the Gaza peace plan.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, the bodies show clear signs of torture, mutilation and field execution.
In a statement, it said the bodies of detainees had evidence of bound hands and blindfolded eyes.
Medical sources also told Al Jazeera that signs of tracks appeared on the bodies, suggesting some of them had been run over by Israeli vehicles.
Sky News has contacted the Israel Defence Forces for comment.
It comes after a freed Palestinian prisoner described scenes of systematic torture, humiliation and death inside Israeli detention (see 7.13 post).
Akram al Basyouni, 45, from northern Gaza, told Sky News “many of our fellow prisoners were beaten to the point of death”.
Sky News is also yet to receive a comment from Israeli forces on Al Basyouni’s allegations.
Red Cross vehicles have been transporting the bodies of Palestinians held by Israel back to Gaza.
These latest pictures reaching us from Khan Younis in southern Gaza show a convoy of vehicles travelling past rubble.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian says Hamas is “required to uphold its commitments” after Israel said one of the bodies returned by Hamas doesn’t match any hostage.
“We will not compromise on this and we will spare no effort until our fallen hostages are returned, every last one of them,” she says.
Bedrosian says that Hamas agreed to release all 48 hostages in the first phase of the peace plan, and even “made the specific confirmation” to Donald Trump.
“We are expecting to see the terror organisation uphold their side of this agreement,” she adds.
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.
Eight bodies have been returned – seven of which Israel says belong to hostages.
The Israeli government is holding news briefing after the IDF said one of the bodies returned by Hamas doesn’t match any hostage.
We’ll bring you text updates shortly.
A senior Israeli official has denied reports suggesting that Israel and Hamas have started talks over the second phase of the Gaza peace deal.
Both sides signed the first phase which includes the release of hostages and detainees and an immediate ceasefire.
The latter parts of the 20-point plan include Gaza’s governance and a pathway to statehood.
“We are still in the first phase,” an Israeli official said.
“We will talk about the second phase when we complete the first one.”
According to the official, mid-level Israeli officials are in Egypt to discuss the return of the bodies of hostages and the full implementation of the first phase.
A funeral procession is taking place for one of the deceased hostages returned by Hamas this week.
The body of Guy Illouz was handed over on Monday, and members of the public have been asked to stand along the procession route with Israeli flags.
We’re just hearing an update from the Sheba Medical Centre in Israel, where 10 of the hostages were taken after being handed over by Hamas on Monday.
Professor Itai Pessach, vice president of the medical centre, said all the hostages at the site are in a stable condition.
He added that he cannot go into any further detail at this stage.
After an Israeli official said the Rafah crossing will remain closed today, the Palestinian Authority has responded by saying it is prepared to operate the crossing itself (see 11.52 post).
So why is it so important?
The crossing is on the border between Egypt and southern Gaza. It is the territory’s only gateway to the rest of the world that’s not directly controlled by Israel.
It’s under the control of Egypt as part of an agreement with the Israelis and the European Union.
Israel launched a major assault on the city of Rafah in May 2024 as part of its military operations in Gaza and seized control of the crossing – which Egypt closed in response, rejecting an Israeli proposal to reopen it. Israel was also ordered to stop its offensive by the International Court of Justice due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation there.
Even before the Hamas attacks on October 7 2023, it never operated as a normal, fully open border crossing.
Over the years it has been closed for days, weeks and months at a time. When it does open, it’s often intermittent and can suddenly close again.
The people of Gaza never know when it will open or for how long, making it impossible for them to plan around using it.
Satellite images taken of Rafah last week show the city has been almost totally razed by military assaults over the past two years.
More than 150 of the Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the ceasefire agreement with Hamas returned to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.
The EU’s foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the bloc would “restart a civilian mission” to monitor the crossing.
The aid getting into Gaza “is still like a drop in the ocean”, humanitarian group Medical Aid for Palestinians has said.
“We are talking about 12 partially functioning hospitals,” Mia Elawawda told our presenter Gareth Barlow.
“You could step your foot anywhere in these hospitals now and you would see hundreds of patients literally at every corner with no medical care that they need, no mattresses with no beds, with no medical supplies.”
Elawawda added that humanitarian workers can’t say the situation has changed over recent days.
“The unprecedented manmade humanitarian crisis in Gaza really needs aid coming with a scale and flow that meets the needs on the ground,” she said.
Watch the full interview below.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free