Body of Thai hostage taken on Oct 7 recovered from Gaza, says Israel

Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct 7, 2023.

The Prime Minister's office said Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta was returned to Israel in a special military operation.

Pinta was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, said the government. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants.

This comes two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved.

Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half are dead.

The defence minister said Saturday that Pinta's body was retrieved from the Rafah area. He had come to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture.

On Thursday, Israel retrieved the bodies of Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai, both of whom had Israeli and US citizenship.

This comes as Israel continues its operation in Gaza. At least 22 people were killed by Israeli strikes overnight Friday into Saturday.