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SvennoJ on 07 June 2025
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Israel says body of captive recovered from Gaza

The Israeli PM’s office says the body of a Thai national held captive in the Gaza Strip has been found and returned to Israel.

The Israeli army has released a statement with additional details:

  • The body of Pinta was retrieved yesterday from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza.
  • Pinta was taken captive alive by the Mujahideen Brigades armed group from the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7, 2023. He was later killed by his captors, the army claimed.
  • The group holds the body of another foreign citizen.
  • The Israeli army claimed the Mujahideen Brigades also killed Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, whose bodies were returned in a prisoner exchange in February. (However, it was Hamas that released the remains of the Bibases who were killed, according to the Palestinian group, by an Israeli air strike in November 2023.)
  • The Israeli military said the Mujahideen was holding the bodies of US-Israeli dual nationals Judith Lynn Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose remains were returned by Israeli soldiers this week.
  • Israeli authorities informed Thailand of Pinta’s rescue operation after the body was identified by the Center for Forensic Medicine.


Families urge Netanyahu to act for remaining captives as body of Thai national returned

The recovery of Thai captive Nattapong Pinta’s body “represents the fulfillment of a basic moral and human obligation, allowing his family the closure they so desperately need”, says the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in a statement.

“We stand with Nattapong’s family today and share in their grief,” the statement added. “While the pain is immense, his family will finally have certainty after 20 terrible and agonizing months of devastating uncertainty. Every family deserves such certainty to begin their personal healing journey.”

The Forum, a group that has been one of the leading voices in pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more to free the remaining captives, stressed once again that the Israeli leadership “must do everything necessary” to reach an agreement to bring back all 55 remaining captives.

According to the Israeli army, more than half of those still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.


Captive’s mother tells Netanyahu he’ll have her son’s ‘blood on your hands’ if he dies

The captive’s mother, Einav Zangauker, has spoken at a protest in Tel Aviv calling for the release of captives, during which she criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for neglecting those being held in Gaza.

“The military pressure is closing in on [my son] and is placing him in immediate danger. The decision to expand the ground operation comes at the cost of Matan’s life and the lives of all the hostages,” she said.

“[Netanyahu] continues to sacrifice the hostages. He is using the [Israeli military] not to protect Israel’s security, but to continue the war and protect his government.”

She said feared her son’s condition would deteriorate amid the relentless Israeli attacks. “Netanyahu, if my Matan does not return alive, his blood will be on your hands,” she said.