Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped by Palestinian militants and taken to Gaza during the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.
Pinta Nattapong, 35, was living in Israel as a farm worker in 2023 when he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to Israeli defence minister Israel Katz.
Israeli officials believe he was killed in captivity near the start of the war by members of the Mujahideen Brigades, a breakaway faction of Fatah that operates independently of Hamas in Gaza.
Mr Katz said on Saturday that Mr Pinta's body had been returned to Israel in a special military operation carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, near the city of Rafah.
The news came two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages taken from the same kibbutz were retrieved.
Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says 20 are likely alive.
Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas and other militants after the October 7 attack, with many Thai agricultural workers living in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim, which militants overran first.
A total of 46 Thais have been killed so far during the conflict, according to Thailand's foreign affairs ministry.
At least 22 people killed in Gaza overnight
The retrieval of Mr Pinta's body came as Israel continued its military campaign across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 22 people overnight, according to Palestinian health officials.
One Israeli strike hit an apartment, killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Israel said on Saturday that it was continuing to respond to Hamas's "barbaric attacks" and was dismantling the terror group's capabilities.
It said the IDF follows international law and takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died in the war so far, with international experts estimating about 80 per cent of those casualties to be civilians.
ABC/Wires
