ID of Thai agricultural worker's remains leaves 1 final hostage in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal were those of a Thai agricultural worker, Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday. The return of Sudthisak Rinthalak's remains leaves just one last hostage to be returned under the agreement.

Rinthalak was an agricultural worker who had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the attack. Israeli officials said the 42-year-old Thai was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 during the Hamas-led attack in Israel that triggered the Israel-Hamas war and that his body was taken by the militant group Islamic Jihad.

He was officially declared dead on May 16, 2024.

Rinthalak's remains were returned Wednesday, a day after militants handed over remains that didn't match either of the last two hostages.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said Sudthisak’s family has been notified and thanked the Israeli government for their assistance that led to the release of all 31 Thai hostages taken at the start of the war. Of them, 28 were returned alive and three dead.

Thais were the largest group of foreigners to be held in captivity. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais have been killed during the war.

Israeli Ran Gvili is now the last hostage whose remains have yet to be returned. Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attack and was killed fighting at another location.

Since the Oct. 10 start of the ceasefire, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others have been returned to Israel. In exchange, Israel has released the bodies of hundreds Palestinians to Gaza. Most remain unidentified.

The return of all the hostages is an essential element of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that began in October, which both Hamas and Israel have accused the other of breaking. In exchange, Israel has been releasing Palestinian prisoners.

The plan is still in the early stages and many questions linger over its implementation. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were taken hostage. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,100 since the war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. It has continued to rise since the ceasefire took effect Oct. 10 because Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.