Latest news with #NatthapongPinta
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Body of Thai hostage Natthapong Pinta retrieved from Gaza by Israeli forces
Israeli forces have retrieved from the Gaza Strip the body of Natthapong Pinta, a Thai taken hostage during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, officials said. A military statement said the army and the Shin Bet security agency carried out an operation on Friday and 'recovered the body of Natthapong Pinta
RTHK
a day ago
- Politics
- RTHK
Thailand 'deeply saddened' by death of Gaza hostage
Thailand 'deeply saddened' by death of Gaza hostage An Israeli military statement, which gave his name as Natthapong Pinta said its forces had retrieved his body from the Rafah. File photo: AFP Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday it was "deeply saddened" by the death of a Thai hostage in Gaza whose body was retrieved by Israeli forces. Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said in a video statement the ministry "is deeply saddened to announce that today, the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv was informed by a representative of the Israeli government that Mr Nattapong Pinta, the last Thai hostage, has been confirmed dead." An Israeli military statement, which gave his name as Natthapong Pinta, said on Saturday its forces had retrieved his body from the Rafah area of southern Gaza. It said he was taken alive as a hostage during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and "was murdered while in captivity". The Israeli military statement blamed the Mujahideen Brigades, an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad. Nikorndej said Nattapong was one of three Thais held hostage in Gaza. The other two were confirmed dead in 2024 but Nikorndej said Israel has "not yet been able to retrieve their corpses". He said the Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv has contacted Nattapong's family to inform them and would work with the Israeli side to return his body to Thailand as soon as possible. (AFP)
Nahar Net
2 days ago
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Israel says retrieved body of Thai hostage from Gaza
by Naharnet Newsdesk 11 hours Israeli forces have retrieved from the Gaza Strip the body of Natthapong Pinta, a Thai taken hostage during Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, officials said Saturday. A military statement said the army and the Shin Bet security agency carried out an operation on Friday and "recovered the body of Natthapong Pinta from the Rafah area" in southern Gaza. "Nattaphong Pinta was abducted alive by terrorists... from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and was murdered while in captivity," the statement alleged, blaming the Mujahideen Brigades, an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad. Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the hostage's body was "returned to Israel" in "a special operation" in the Rafah area. "Natthapong came to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture, out of a desire to build a better future for himself and his family," Katz said. He was "brutally murdered in captivity by the terrorist organization Mujahideen Brigades", the minister charged. The military statement alleged that the militant group which stormed Nir Oz during Hamas' 2023 attack was to blame for the deaths of several other hostages. "The murderous Mujahideen terrorist organization abducted, held and murdered Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, whose bodies were returned as part of the last hostage deal, as well as the bodies of Gad Haggai and Judi Lynn Weinstein, which were returned earlier this week," the statement said. "The Mujahideen terrorist organization has also murdered and is holding the body of another foreign national," it added. The statement said Natthapong's family and Thai officials had been notified of the operation to recover his body. According to the Nir Oz community, 117 residents were killed and more than 60 percent of its houses destroyed during the attack.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Israeli forces recover body of Thai hostage killed in Gaza by terror group
Israel's military has recovered the body of a Thai man who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity by terror group Kataeb al-Mujahideen shortly after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023. Natthapong Pinta's body was brought back to Israel after an operation by the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Security Agency, the military said on Saturday. "Yesterday (Friday), in a joint IDF and ISA operation, the body of Nattapong Pinta, a Thai national, was recovered from the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip," the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement. His family in Thailand was notified by the Thai Embassy and by Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, who serves as the coordinator for Captives and Missing Persons in the Israeli prime minister's office. Israel Recovers Bodies Of 2 Hostages From Gaza Strip: 'May Their Memory Be Blessed' Natthapong had come to Israel to work in agriculture, according to Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz. Read On The Fox News App "I send my deepest condolences to his wife, young son, and family, and I thank our heroic soldiers who, time and again, operate under fire to bring back all the hostages, out of a profound moral commitment," Katz said in a statement. "We will not rest until all the hostages — both the living and the fallen — are returned to Israel," he continued. 7 Key Takeaways From The Israeli Military's Report On What Happened On Oct. 7 The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a news release that "the recovery of Nattapong Pinta represents the fulfillment of a basic moral and human obligation, allowing his family the closure they desperately need." In a statement, the Hostage Families Forum said: "We stand with Nattapong's family today and share in their grief." "While the pain is immense, his family will finally have certainty after 20 terrible and agonizing months of devastating uncertainty," the statement continued. "Every family deserves such certainty to begin their personal healing journey." Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza – 33 of whom are confirmed dead, but at least 20 are alive. There is grave concern for the lives of two hostages. Fox News' Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this article source: Israeli forces recover body of Thai hostage killed in Gaza by terror group
The Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Israeli forces retrieve body of Thai hostage from Gaza as Netanyahu admits supporting militants in Gaza
ISRAELI FORCES HAVE retrieved from the Gaza Strip the body of Natthapong Pinta, a Thai taken hostage during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, officials said Saturday. A military statement said the army and the Shin Bet security agency carried out an operation on Friday and 'recovered the body of Natthapong Pinta from the Rafah area' of southern Gaza. 'Nattaphong Pinta was abducted alive by terrorists… from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and was murdered while in captivity,' the statement alleged, blaming the Mujahideen Brigades, an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad. Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the hostage's body was 'returned to Israel' in 'a special operation' in the Rafah area. 'Natthapong came to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture, out of a desire to build a better future for himself and his family,' Katz said. He was 'brutally murdered in captivity by the terrorist organisation Mujahideen Brigades', the minister charged. The military statement alleged that the militant group which stormed Nir Oz during Hamas's 2023 attack was to blame for the deaths of several other hostages. 'The murderous Mujahideen terrorist organisation abducted, held and murdered Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, whose bodies were returned as part of the last hostage deal, as well as the bodies of Gad Haggai and Judi Lynn Weinstein, which were returned earlier this week,' the statement said. 'The Mujahideen terrorist organisation has also murdered and is holding the body of another foreign national,' it added. The statement said Natthapong's family and Thai officials had been notified of the operation to recover his body. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group urged Israeli authorities in a statement to 'do what is needed to reach an agreement' to free the remaining captives. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's attack that triggered the Gaza war, 55 remain in captivity, including 31 the Israeli military says are dead. According to the Nir Oz community, 117 residents were killed and more than 60 percent of its houses destroyed during the Hamas attack. The 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 54,677 people have been killed in the territory since 7 October 2023, also mostly civilians. Israel arming militant anti-Hamas group Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the militant group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it. Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab. Advertisement The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a 'criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks'. Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was 'giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons'. 'What did Lieberman leak? … That on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What is bad about that?' Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. 'It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers.' Michael Milshtein, an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told news organisation AFP that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Some of the tribe's members, he said, were involved in 'all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that'. Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin on Friday confirmed the military supported arming local militias in Gaza but remained tight-lipped on the details. 'I can say that we are operating in various ways against Hamas governance,' Defrin said during a televised press conference when questioned on the subject, without elaborating further. Milshtein said that Abu Shabab had spent time in prison in Gaza and that his clan chiefs had recently denounced him as an Israeli 'collaborator and a gangster'. 'It seems that actually the Shabak (Israeli security agency) or the (military) thought it was a wonderful idea to turn this militia, gang actually, into a proxy, to give them weapons and money and shelter' from army operations, Milshtein said. He added that Hamas killed four members of the gang days ago. The ECFR said Abu Shabab was 'reported to have been previously jailed by Hamas for drug smuggling. His brother is said to have been killed by Hamas during a crackdown against the group's attacks on UN aid convoys.' Israel regularly accuses Hamas, with which it has been at war for nearly 20 months, of looting aid convoys in Gaza. Hamas said the group had 'chosen betrayal and theft as their path' and called on civilians to oppose them. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said it had evidence of 'clear coordination between these looting gangs, collaborators with the occupation (Israel), and the enemy army itself in the looting of aid and the fabrication of humanitarian crises that deepen the suffering of' Palestinians. The Popular Forces, as Abu Shabab's group calls itself, said on Facebook it had 'never been, and will never be, a tool of the occupation'. 'Our weapons are simple, outdated and came through the support of our own people,' it added. Milshtein called Israel's decision to arm a group such as Abu Shabab 'a fantasy, not something that you can really describe as a strategy'. 'I really hope it will not end with catastrophe,' he said.
