U.S. officials -- including Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner -- traveled to Israel this week for high-level meetings, discussing the next steps in the delicate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal by withholding the bodies of the remaining 13 deceased hostages thought to have died during or after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas has said the return of the remaining bodies "may take some time" due to the destruction.
Gaza hospitals record 25 deaths due to IDF attacks
At least 25 Palestinians were killed due to Israeli attacks in Gaza in the last 24 hours, including 16 bodies that were recovered from under the rubble, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported Wednesday.
"A number of victims remain trapped under the rubble and on the roads, as ambulance and civil defense teams are still unable to reach them," the ministry said.
Palestinians walk past a destroyed building at a makeshift market in the Nuseirat refugee camp, located in the central Gaza Strip, October 15, 2025, two days after a ceasefire came into effect.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
At least 67,938 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war, the ministry said.
-ABC News' Samy Zyara
Oct 15, 2025, 5:20 AM EDT
IDF says that 1 body returned is not a hostage
Israel says that one of the four bodies handed over by Hamas "does not match any of the hostages," according to a statement from the IDF.
"Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages," the IDF said. "Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages.”
Oct 15, 2025, 4:28 AM EDT
Rafah crossing remains closed Wednesday, Israeli official says
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza remained closed on Wednesday, Israel said, as the delicate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continued to take hold.
"The defense establishment clarifies that, contrary to reports, the Rafah Crossing did not open today," an Israeli security official told ABC News. "Preparations are ongoing for its opening for the exit and entry of Gazans only."
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing wait to get cross into the Gaza Strip early on Oct. 15, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
Aid for Palestinians in the enclave is traveling through other crossings, including the Kerem Shalom crossing, the official said. Israeli security forces are inspecting aid before it enters the strip, the official said.
International aid groups, including the U.N.'s agency for Palestinian refugees, have urged Israel to let more aid into Gaza.
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing wait to cross into the Gaza Strip early on Oct. 15, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
"We have enough food for the entire population for 3 months waiting in Egypt and Jordan," UNWRA said in a statement on Tuesday. "There’s no more time to lose -- we need a green light to start bringing in UNRWA’s supplies immediately so our teams can deliver them to people in need."
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Kevin Shalvey
Oct 14, 2025, 6:04 PM EDT
137 trucks of food aid have entered Gaza since ceasefire began: UN agency
The United Nations' World Food Programme said it is "scaling up its operations in Gaza" as the ceasefire has gone into effect.
Since Saturday, 137 trucks with food aid have gone into Gaza "to support bakeries, nutrition programmes and general food distributions," the organization said in a release Tuesday.
"With full access, WFP intends to restore its regular food distribution system, scaling assistance through 145 distribution points across the Strip," the organization said.
