Anger in Israel as pressure mounts on Hamas to return hostage bodies
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 October 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel's military says one of the four bodies returned by Hamas on Tuesday is not that of a former hostage. It said Hamas had to make all efforts to return the remains of those taken on October seventh. The process has been impacted by the devastation in Gaza, with some bodies believed to be under rubble. Palestinians in Gaza are reported to be stockpiling food, amid anxiety that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will unravel -- and the flow of aid will stop.
Also in the programme: Kenya has declared a week of national mourning for the former prime minister Raila Odinga, who's died at the age of 80; a sumo tournament is taking place outside Japan for the first time in 34 years; and the leader of one of China's biggest underground churches, Jin Mingri, has been detained, his daughter gives us the latest.
(Photo: Red Cross vehicles transport the bodies of deceased hostages who had been held in Gaza. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.7 | Hello, I'm Celia Hatton. |
| 0:11.1 | Welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:14.0 | I'm coming to you live from London. |
| 0:15.9 | This week started with rare scenes of joy and jubilation in Israel and Gaza, as families were reunited with newly released hostages and prisoners. |
| 0:26.5 | The images have been powerful with sobbing mothers embracing their newly released sons, twin brothers reunited and children, shyly greeting fathers they haven't seen in years. |
| 0:38.1 | Video after video shows families hugging and not wanting to let go. |
| 0:43.1 | But after that initial relief, we're now seeing rising anger among Israelis who say the hostage return isn't complete. |
| 0:51.6 | They're asking why more of the hostage bodies haven't been handed over. |
| 0:56.5 | Udi Goran is the cousin of Tal Haimi, who was killed in the October 7th attack, |
| 1:01.8 | and his body was dragged into Gaza where it remains. Udi spoke to NewsHour. |
| 1:07.1 | The deal that was signed was supposed to bring 48 hostages back. |
| 1:11.8 | It brought 24, and I am thrilled to see every single one of them at home. |
| 1:17.8 | I'm especially thrilled at the ones that were brought back to their families alive |
| 1:22.5 | and can start their recovery. |
| 1:24.9 | But 24 other hostages are still in Gaza, and I demand that everybody |
| 1:30.9 | involved do whatever it takes to bring them all back. This is not just about saving lives. |
| 1:38.0 | This is about shaping the future of Israel. It's a struggle over what society we want to live in. Do we want to live in a society |
| 1:47.8 | where we abandon people that we don't take care of the people that fought for us, that saved lives, |
| 1:54.7 | that, you know, civilians that were taken from their beds and then brutally attacked? This is not the kind of society we want to live in. |
| 2:03.7 | Let's go to the BBC's Barbara Plet Usher live now. Barbara, we've just heard the frustration coming from Udi Goren, |
| 2:12.0 | and we just mentioned the anger inside Israel. But didn't Hamas warn, it would take time to find all of the hostages remains? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.