The body of a 35-year-old Nattapong Pinta, a Thai man taken during the October 7, 2023, attacks, was found in southern Gaza. Image: Israel Foreign Ministry
(The Post News)- The body of Nattapong Pinta, a Thai man taken during the October 7, 2023, attacks, was found in southern Gaza during a military operation on Friday, according to a statement from Israeli officials and the Shin Bet security service. The news comes just a few days after Israel found the bodies of two Israeli American hostages in Gaza.
According to CNN, Nattapong Pinta, 35, was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, where he had been working in agriculture. An Israeli military official said he is believed to have died in the early months of his captivity. Pinta was a husband and father who had come to Israel to support his family in Thailand.
Reuters reported that there was no immediate response from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously claimed they do not kill hostages, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades are still holding the body of another foreign national. Of the 55 hostages still believed to be in Gaza, only about 20 are thought to be alive.
Israeli authorities said the Mujahedeen Brigades were also responsible for the deaths of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which ended in March after both sides failed to agree on terms to extend it.
Since then, Israel has widened its military operations in Gaza, as efforts led by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt to reach another ceasefire have struggled to make progress.
The United Nations has warned that many of Gaza’s 2.3 million people face the risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade. The number of young children suffering from severe malnutrition has nearly tripled.
The recovery of Pinta’s body comes amid a large Israeli operation in Gaza, where the Civil Defense reported that at least 38 people lost their lives in attacks on Friday.
CNN reports that the IDF said four soldiers were killed and five injured early Friday morning when an explosion in a building in Khan Younis caused part of it to collapse while they were inside.
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