Israel says retrieved body of Thai hostage from 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 the start of the war, also mostly civilians.