Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

The US is downplaying threats to the longevity of Gaza's ceasefire as Hamas says it needs specialist equipment to find the 19 dead hostages' bodies that remain in Gaza.

Earlier today, Israel confirmed that Hamas had returned the remains of two Israelis - later identified as last female hostage Inbar Hayman, 27, and IDF soldier Muhammad al-Atarash, 39.

In accordance with the ceasefire deal that requires Israel to return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every Israeli body, the remains of 30 Palestinians were then received in Gaza.

But now Hamas says it needs specialist equipment to find the remaining 19 Israeli bodies. The announcement was met with frustration from the families of hostages, who are calling on the Israeli government to stop the implementation of the next phase of the ceasefire until all remains are returned.

The US is insistent that Hamas will honour the ceasefire deal - and our Middle East correspondent writes that the text of the agreement concedes that the group might not be able to find all the bodies in the required timeframe.

In the meantime, the UN is calling for greater access to aid in the Strip, as its development programme says the focus now is on clearing roads across Gaza from debris and unexploded bombs.

Our Middle East correspondent has more on how Israel is making preparations for the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza to open while urging Hamas to make a "greater effort" to return the remaining deceased hostages.

We're closing our live coverage now, but we'll update our news story with any developments.

Tom Bennett
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

The most prominent Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, was beaten unconscious by Israeli prison guards on 14 September, his son says.

The 66-year-old, who's serving life for planning deadly attacks against Israelis, was allegedly assaulted by eight guards during a transfer between Ganot and Megiddo prisons.

His son Arab told the BBC that testimony from five separate detainees, who were released this week, detailed Barghouti's account of the attack. His family were left "horrified".

Barghouti was allegedly handcuffed by the guards, put on the floor, kicked and beaten.

"He stayed unconscious for hours, he was bleeding, and he could hardly walk," says Barghouti's son.

The Israel Prison Service told the BBC: "These are false claims (fake). The Israel Prison Service operates in accordance with the law, while ensuring the safety and health of all inmates".

Barghouti's name was at the top of a list of seven high-profile prisoners whose release Hamas had sought in return for the 20 living Israeli hostages the group was holding in Gaza - but Israel refused to include him.

• Prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti attacked by guards, family says

In Israel, some of the hostages released by Hamas on Monday are returning home after being discharged from hospital.

Both men have been met with celebrating crowds waving Israeli flags - Eitan Horn, 38, as he returned to his hometown of Kfar Saba, and Nimrod Cohen, 21, as he left hospital in Rehovot.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

GHF tells BBC its operations 'are paused' - despite funding until Novemberpublished at 16:52 BST 16 October

16:52 BST 16 October

Image source, Reuters

By Merlyn Thomas and Kevin Nguyen

The US and Israeli-backed private contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has confirmed that it has not operated in Gaza since 10 October - despite being funded until the end of November.

Speaking to BBC Verify, a spokesman for the GHF says they are unsure if the organisation will be able to continue its operations providing aid in Gaza.

"Right now we're paused," they confirm. "We feel like there's still a need, a surge for as much aid as possible. Our goal is to resume aid distribution."

The spokesman adds that it had been poised to open an upgraded centre in southern Gaza (an announcement the IDF made at the end of August) and says the GHF wants to work alongside the UN to deliver aid to Palestinians.

• As a reminder, the GHF was heavily criticised by the UN after hundreds of people were reported killed while collecting aid at the organisation's distribution sites - more than 170 charities called for it to be shut down in July

Nabiha Ahmed
Live reporter

Image source, Salma Kaddoumi

I've been speaking to 35-year-old Salma Kaddoumi, a Palestinian journalist who is currently living in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

Her and her brother's homes were destroyed at the beginning of the war, and she tells me she has been displaced 23 times over the past two years.

"I don't have a home to return to," she tells me, adding that she has been left "with nothing but memories" of her life before the war.

Salma says this has been especially difficult for her elderly father, and her brother's young children. Currently, they are searching for a new home to rent.

"We still hold on to hope...that the war will end soon, and that we can return to our destroyed home," she tells me.

As we've been reporting, recent satellite data examined by BBC Verify suggests that Gaza could be littered with more than 60 million tonnes of debris, and Palestinians returning home are now grappling with how to rebuild their lives.

Here are some images from the Strip showing the extent of the destruction:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) delegation is visiting Gaza to assess the destruction and and plan its reconstruction.

Jaco Cilliers, special representative for UNDP Palestine, tells Reuters there are a "number of priorities that need to come first" before reconstruction can start.

He says there is "a lot of rubble and debris that need to be removed first", bringing with it multiple challenges, "including unexploded ordnances that first have to be cleared".

Cilliers likens the amount of debris to "13 Pyramids of Giza", and says the biggest concern now is clearing roads to allow aid trucks through, and "clearing debris from areas such as hospitals and other social services".

On reconstruction, Cilliers says a process called the "rapid damage needs assessment" is under way to look at the "total damage that has been occurring in Gaza".

The process - jointly conducted by the UN, the European Union and the World Bank - in February assessed that the reconstruction needs came to about $53bn - but he says the "figure is now being updated" as they work to do physical damage assessments.

Image source, Reuters

The UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) says it is seeing improvements in the levels of aid entering Gaza, but warns that the hundreds of trucks needed daily are not currently reaching Palestinians.

Speaking to CNN, Unrwa's acting director Sam Rose says the situation in Gaza has improved "relative" to March, when no aid was entering the Strip.

"But the hundreds of trucks of aid that are needed each day are not getting in yet," Rose says.

The Unrwa representative adds that he has thousands of staff currently working to reopen health points in Gaza City, as well as shelters in Khan Younis as Palestinians return to their homes.

As we reported earlier, Israel says preparations are being made to reopen the Rafah crossing in the south of Gaza to people, and says that in the meantime aid continues to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing and other points.

Image source, Reuters

In its latest daily update, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says 67,967 people have died in the Strip since the 7 October attacks.

An additional 29 people have been added to the total in the past 24 hours, including three who have "succumbed to their injuries" and 22 whose remains have been recovered from under the rubble.

The ministry says a further four people were killed in past 24 hours.

• As a reminder, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) still controls approximately 53% of the Gaza Strip and previously said it would continue to operate to protect its troops on the ground

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Both Israel and Hamas are complaining to mediators that the terms of this ceasefire deal have been breached.

Hamas has been saying that, since it came into effect, more than 20 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, four were killed in the past 24 hours.

The Israeli military still controls more than half of the Strip, and what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has previously said is that it opens fire to protect its troops on the ground.

The dispute over the return of 19 hostages’ bodies still held by Hamas remains a major threat to this fragile truce.

Two senior advisers to US President Donald Trump have been telling journalists that the mediators “will keep working in good faith” on a mechanism to recover the remains from Gaza.

A big challenge lies in clearing the rubblepublished at 14:21 BST 16 October

14:21 BST 16 October

Image source, Reuters

By Paul Brown, Kayleen Devlin, Erwan Rivault and Barbara Metzler

Recent satellite data examined by BBC Verify suggests that Gaza could be littered with more than 60 million tonnes of debris - and it's not just piles of concrete and twisted metal.

They also contain human remains and unexploded bombs.

"From a safety and humane perspective, the first thing you have to do is make the sites that have been bombed-out safe," says former JCB executive Philip Bouverat.

There follows a process of sorting, separation and crushing the debris. After materials like plastic and steel are removed, the remaining concrete can be ground up and reused.

This will lay the foundations of construction, but building efforts will require the mass import of materials.

"This isn't going to be done by trucks coming across the border. The first thing we need to do is build a deep-water port, because then you can bring thousands of container-loads in", Bouverat adds.

When the sites are cleared, then essential services such as water, sewerage and electricity can be restored, he says.

According to estimates from Unicef, more than 70% of the territory's 600 water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed, while Gaza has experienced a near-total electricity blackout after Israel cut external electricity.

Image source, EPA

We've just heard from Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, who has been discussing the steps needed to reconstruct Gaza.

The five-year programme is estimated to cost over $67bn (£49bn), he says, and will cover housing, social services, infrastructure, economy and governance.

Mustafa says national and international partners are expected to support it, adding that Egypt will hopefully convene a "Gaza reconstruction conference" in Cairo next month.

"The Government of Palestine reaffirms that effective governance in Gaza is an essential pillar of recovery and stability," Mustafa tells attendees.

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you some fresh comments from the Gaza Strip, where residents are still returning to their homes as the ceasefire continues for a sixth day.

“We’re staying, no matter what they destroy we’re staying. Staying. Staying," says Hayam Meqdad, a Palestinian woman who recently returned to her come in Gaza City after being displaced.

“This was all my house, this is my life," she tells Reuters as she walks through the rubble of her destroyed home. "We're unable to bring anyone here because there are no tents, there’s nothing to shelter us.”

Despite this, Meqdad is determined to stay in Gaza City.

"Even if it’s destroyed, I will live over it, because this is our life...I will not leave my home even if it’s the last day of my life."

Image source, Reuters

Pictures are coming in now as people hold ceremonies to mark 7 October's official remembrance day.

The government delayed official memorials to fall after the end of the Jewish high holiday season - Sukkot coincided with 7 October, while another holiday, Simchat Torah - one of the happiest days on the Jewish calendar - was celebrated earlier this week.

Here are how some paid their respects in the Kfar Aza kibbutz.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Throughout the morning, we've been reporting on Hamas announcing it had returned all the remains of hostages it can access - and on how the families of the unaccounted 19 captives have been reacting.

Ela Haimi, the wife of deceased hostage Tal, acknowledges that finding his body is going to be "hard and complicated because of the physical situation" - and that some of the remains are "buried down there in a tunnel that may be destroyed".

But she tells the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme she believes Hamas doesn't have the same level of "passion" it had when returning living hostages, suggesting this is contributing to the delay in recovering the remaining bodies.

"The Israeli government has to do everything that it can to push them... maybe in the humanitarian help - that we need to stop or to close the gates," she says.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

The full text of the ceasefire agreement has not been made public - but part of it has been published by Israeli media.

The agreement appears to lack details and in some cases is vague and ambiguous - perhaps on purpose.

There is demand that all hostages - alive and dead - should be freed within 72 hours of the partial Israeli withdrawal.

• As a reminder, Hamas has released all 20 living hostages as well as nine bodies since Monday

But the text concedes - although not explicitly - that Hamas is unlikely to be able to retrieve all bodies from deceased hostages within that timeframe, allowing the group to share the information it had gathered about those that could not be located.

You can read more of my analysis on the wording of Gaza ceasefire agreement here.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, the bodies of two more hostages were returned overnight but Hamas has said that it had returned all the remains it can access - adding it would need specialist equipment to find more.

The families of the hostages are now calling on the Israeli government to stop the implementation of the next phase of the ceasefire until all remains are brought back to Israel. If you're just joining us, here's what's been happening:

• Israel has confirmed the two bodies returned on Wednesday belong to two Israeli hostages, Inbar Hayman and Muhammad al-Atarash
• The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is calling for the Israeli government to stop implementing the ceasefire agreement, if the bodies aren't returned
• US officials are downplaying the threat to the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, telling reporters in a phone call that they believe Hamas will honour the deal

• Israel says preparations to reopen the crucial Rafah crossing are "ongoing", but that humanitarian aid won't pass through
• Meanwhile, Israeli media is reporting that Israel is not planning to open the Rafah crossing unless Hamas makes a "greater effort" to return all the dead hostages
• Humanitarian organisations, including the UN, are urging Israel to open more crossings and allow a surge of aid into the Strip, as this crossing remains shut

• Palestinian media is reporting that a man has been killed in a drone strike in the south-east of Khan Younis. The IDF says there have been no strikes there today

The Red Cross has facilitated the return of the bodies of 30 more Palestinians back to Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has announced in a post on social media.

This brings the total number of bodies that Israel has returned to 120, it says. It adds that medical teams are working to examine the bodies and return them to their families.

Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, Israel has agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return for every deceased Israeli hostage.

Image source, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation

Israel will achieve all goals of the Gaza war it has set out to accomplish, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed today.

Speaking after President Herzog addressed the same memorial ceremony, he says that those who threaten Israel will pay a "heavy price", and emphasises that the fight is not over yet.

"Whoever lays a hand on us knows they will pay a very heavy price," the Israeli premier says.

Images from Gaza this morning show Palestinians continuing to adjust to life, with buildings and infrastructure destroyed around them.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters