Tel Aviv: Israel said Saturday it had retrieved the body of a Thai hostage abducted into Gaza during the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war, as it continued its military offensive, killing at least 95 people in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The prime minister’s office said Nattapong Pinta’s body was returned to Israel in a special military operation.
Pinta was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed early in the war, the government said.
Thailand’s foreign ministry in a statement confirmed that the last Thai hostage in Gaza was confirmed dead. It said the bodies of two others are yet to be retrieved.
The news came two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, and Israel says more than half are dead.
Israel’s defence minister said Pinta’s body was retrieved from the Rafah area in southern Gaza. He had come to Israel to work in agriculture.
The army said he was seized by the Mujahideen Brigades, the small armed group that it said also abducted and killed Shiri Bibas and her two small children.
The same group took the two Israeli-American hostages, Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose bodies were retrieved Thursday.
Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. Many of the agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first.
A total of 46 Thais have been killed during the conflict, according to Thailand’s foreign ministry.
Separately, Hamas issued an unusual warning about another hostage, Matan Zangauker, saying Israel’s military had surrounded the area where he is held and that any harm to him during a rescue attempt would be Israel’s responsibility.
Israel continues its military offensive
Israel continued its military offensive across Gaza.
Four strikes hit the Muwasi area in southern Gaza between Rafah and Khan Younis. In northern Gaza, one strike hit an apartment, killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital.
“Stand up, my love,” one weeping woman said, touching the shrouded bodies.
Another strike in Gaza City killed six members of a family, including two children, according to the Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals.
Israel said it was responding to Hamas’ “barbaric attacks” and dismantling its capabilities. It said it takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.
Reports say some of the dead were trying to get food aid Staff at Nasser hospital, where six of the bodies over the past 24 hours were taken, said they were killed while on their way to get food aid.