
Israel retrieves body of Thai hostage as 95 people are reported killed in Gaza
Global News
Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza. Israel says more than half are dead.
Israel said Saturday it retrieved the body of a Thai hostage abducted into the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, as Israel’s military continued its offensive, killing at least 95 people in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Nattapong Pinta had come to Israel to work in agriculture. Israel’s government said he was seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed early in the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said the bodies of two other citizens were yet to be retrieved. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive. Many lived on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, the first places overrun in the attack. Forty-six Thais have been killed during the war, according to the foreign ministry.
Israel’s defence minister said Pinta’s body was retrieved from the Rafah area in southern Gaza. The army said he was seized by the Mujahideen Brigades, the small armed group that also took two Israeli-American hostages, Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose bodies were retrieved on Thursday.
Israel’s military later said it killed the head of the Mujahideen Brigades, As’ad Aby Sharaiya, in Gaza City on Saturday.
Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza. Israel says more than half are dead. Families rallied again Saturday evening in Israel, calling for a ceasefire deal to bring everyone home.
Hamas issued an unusual warning about another hostage, Matan Zangauker, saying Israel’s military had surrounded the area where he’s held and that any harm that came to him during a rescue attempt would be Israel’s responsibility. Israel’s military didn’t immediately comment.
“The decision to expand the (military) ground maneuver is at the cost of Matan’s life and the lives of all the hostages,” Zangauker’s mother, Einav, told the rally in Tel Aviv.













