Like Aviv, Israel (AP) – Israel says that he recovered the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped in Gaza on October 7, 2023, while continuing his military offensive through the strip, killing at least 22 people overnight, according to health officials.
The Prime Minister’s office said on Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta had been rendered in Israel in a special military operation.
Pinta was kidnapped by Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, the government said.
This occurs two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages have been recovered. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, which Israel says that more than half are dead.
The Minister of Defense said on Saturday that the Pinta body had been recovered from the Rafah region. He had come to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture.
The army said that he had been taken to Gaza by the Mujahideen brigades, the small armed group who, according to him, had also kidnapped and killed Shiri Bibas and her two grandchildren. It is also the same group that took the two Israeli-American hostages, Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose bodies were recovered Thursday by the army.
Israel said that he had found Pinta’s body on the basis of information received from the hostage working group and military information.
A declaration of the hostage forum, which supports the hostages, said that it resists the family of Pinta and shares their sorrow. He called on the country’s decision -makers to bring the remaining hostages back and give those who died an appropriate burial.
Thai people were the largest group of foreigners detained by Hamas activists. Many Thai people agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Kibbutzim and southern cities, and Hamas activists invaded these places first. A total of 46 Thai people were killed during the conflict, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand.
Before recovering the Pinta body, three Thai hostages remained in captivity and two were confirmed dead. The fate of Pinta was uncertain until today, according to the hostage forum.
The recovery of the Pinta’s body comes as Israel continues its military campaign through Gaza. Hospital officials said they had received the body of nearly two dozen people on Saturday.
Four strikes hit the Muwasi region in southern Gaza between Rafah and Khan Younis. In the north of Gaza, a strike struck an apartment, killing seven people, including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital.
Israel said on Saturday that he was responding to Hamas’ “barbaric attacks” and dismantled his abilities. He said he follows international law and takes on all the precautions to be achieved to mitigate civil damage.
Activists led by Hamas killed some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, during the October 7 attack and removed 251 hostages. They still hold 55 hostagesAbout a third of them believed alive after most of the others were released in ceasefire agreements or other transactions. Israeli forces have saved eight living hostages from Gaza and recovered dozens of bodies.
The military campaign of Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The offensive has destroyed large parts of Gaza and moved around 90% of its population of approximately 2 million Palestinians.
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This story was corrected to note that the previous bodies were recovered Thursday, not Friday.
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Jahjouh reported to Rafah, Gaza Strip. The journalist of Associated Press, Bassem Mroue, contributed from Beirut, in Lebanon.
