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 podcast as you scroll.
Wednesday 15 October 2025 10:40, UK
Benjamin Netanyahu has said “I hope we can do this peacefully” after warning “all hell” will break loose if Hamas doesn’t agree to disarm.
The Israeli prime minister spoke to CBS News after Donald Trump warned “if they [Hamas] don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it will happen quickly and perhaps violently”.
Watch part of the interview below.
After Israel said the fourth body handed over by Hamas last night doesn’t match any of the hostages (see previous post), our Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons said “it indicates some of the chaos” that still surrounds the process of returning bodies.
“I’m sure there will be those who allege that this has been done deliberately,” he said.
“I’m sure there will also be many others who say that this is an error on the part of Hamas.”
Despite the agreement to return all the 28 bodies of hostages, Parsons said “it has become apparent that either Hamas doesn’t know where they are or it cannot reach them”.
“The ceasefire is holding, but it is under enormous strain,” he added.
Watch his full analysis below.
Israel’s military has said the fourth body handed over by Hamas last night doesn’t match any of the hostages.
In a statement, the IDF said Hamas is “required to make all necessary efforts” to return the bodies of hostages.
Earlier, Israel confirmed after formal identification that the other bodies returned last night were those of Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi (see 7.35 post).
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.
Eight bodies have been returned – seven of which Israel says belong to hostages – with another 20 yet to be handed over by Hamas.
The group has previously said it could struggle to locate all of the remains.
Israel will hold its first funeral for one of the deceased hostages returned by Hamas this week.
The body of Guy Illouz was handed over on Monday, with his identity later being confirmed by Israel.
His family and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has invited members of the public to stand along the procession route with Israeli flags.
A funeral service will then get under way at 2.30pm UK time at Kfar Nachman Cemetery in the city of Ra’anana.
The Israeli military said the 26-year-old was injured and abducted alive by Hamas after escaping the Nova music festival, but he died from his wounds after not receiving proper medical treatment while being held by Hamas.
These are the latest pictures we’re receiving from Gaza City, showing Palestinians setting up tents and transporting their belongings.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been travelling north since the ceasefire came into effect last week, with many returning to rubble.
Benjamin Netanyahu visited hostages being treated at Beilinson Hospital with his wife Sara last night.
Hamas released 20 living hostages on Monday as part of the first phase of the Gaza peace deal.
Five of the released hostages were then taken to Beilinson Hospital, while another five went to Ichilov Hospital and the remaining 10 went to the Sheba Medical Centre.
“Over the past two years, my wife and I met with their families many times,” Israel’s prime minister said.
“We cried with them, we hugged them, and I promised them: We will bring them back.
“There wasn’t a day I didn’t receive reports on their condition – what we knew, what I requested to know. I promised to bring them back, and we brought them back.
“And now, after they have been embraced by their families, we will also embrace them.”
An Israeli security official has confirmed that the Rafah crossing is not open today despite reports suggesting otherwise.
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.
Four more bodies were handed over last night, meaning 20 others are yet to be returned.
But reports this morning suggested Israel decided to open the Rafah crossing today – something that has turned out to be incorrect.
After Hamas returned four more bodies to Israel last night, forensic scientists are investigating whether one doesn’t belong to a hostage, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
A security official has told Hebrew media that the body instead belongs to a Palestinian from Gaza.
It comes after the other bodies were confirmed to have belonged to Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi, while the identity of the fourth body has not been disclosed.
Hamas previously gave Israel a body that it said belonged to hostage Shiri Bibas earlier this year, but it was identified as a Palestinian from Gaza. Her remains were later handed to Israel.
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 Defence Forces for comment but has not yet received a response.
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