Israeli military retrieves body of ‘brutally murdered' Thai hostage from Gaza
Thai agricultural worker Nattapong Pinta was abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct 7, 2023. PHOTO: HOSTAGE AID WORLDWIDE/X
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military has retrieved the body of Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta, who had been held in Gaza since Hamas' Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on June 7.
Mr Pinta's body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was retrieved from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza in 'a special operation', Mr Katz said.
His family in Thailand has been notified.
Mr Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small community near the border, where one in four people was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas-led 2023 attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
The Israeli military said Mr Pinta was abducted alive and 'brutally murdered' by his captors, who also killed two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved this week.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in the 2023 attack, Israel's deadliest day, and took 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza. Twenty hostages are believed to still be alive, according to the Israeli authorities.
Israel responded to the Hamas attacks with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians and left much of the enclave in ruins, with a population of more than 2 million people largely displaced. REUTERS
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