JERUSALEM, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Remains recently transferred to Israel have been identified as those of the last Thai hostage taken during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities said on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the country's national forensic laboratory confirmed the remains belong to Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai national who worked in agriculture in southern Israel.
The Israeli military said Rinthalak, 42, was killed in the orchards of Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza Strip. His body was taken into Gaza and held by the Islamic Jihad group. His death was officially determined on May 16, 2024.
Israeli authorities said all 31 Thai hostages abducted during the Oct. 7 attack have now been accounted for, with 28 returned alive and three confirmed dead.
Since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10, Hamas has released 20 living hostages and 27 bodies. In return, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons and returned the bodies of hundreds of deceased Palestinians. ■
