The body of the last Thai hostage removed on October 7 by Hamas brought back to Israel – Liberation

The Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced this Saturday, June 7 that the body of a hostage Thai Removed on October 7, 2023 during the attack on the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel and taken to the Gaza Strip had been exfiltrated.

« Following a special Tsahal operation (the Israeli army, editor’s note) and Shin Bet (Internal security service) In the Rafah region, the body of Nattapong Pinta, which had been removed at the Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, was brought back to Israel ”, said Israel Katz in a statement.

Pinta Nattapong, 36, was the last Thai hostage still in captivity. Among the dozens of Thai captives kidnapped by Hamas in agricultural kibbutz, he has remained locked up in the Gazaouis tunnels. On October 7, it was a year and a half that Pinta Nattapong had left his wife and son in Thailand to go to work in the Kibbutz Nir Oz lawyers. “He wanted to improve our family situation. Our son was very young. We do not win enough here ”, had told his partner in January, Narissara, to the Guardian. Nattapong worked hard, having overtime to be able to send more money to his family. Israel is a frequent destination for Thai migrant workers, attracted by the higher wages offered there. About 30,000 nationals worked in Israel before the war, mainly in the agricultural sector.

Pinta Nattapong was not one of the 23 Thai people released during the first truce in 2023nor the second, In January, Where five of his compatriots have found their families. In front of the images of hostage liberation, « (Our son) asked me: « What’s going on, mom? »»» tells Narissara who continues: « He realized that his father was not part of the freed. »

The Israeli government said the Thai were the largest group of dead and disappeared during October 7.