Remains of Thai Farm Worker Identified; Only One Hostage Still Unreturned in Gaza

Israeli and Thai officials announced on Thursday that remains handed over by militants in Gaza during the first phase of a ceasefire exchange have been identified as those of 42-year-old Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai agricultural worker who had been employed at Kibbutz Be'eri. His return leaves a single remaining hostage yet to be accounted for under the agreement.

Israeli authorities say Rinthalak was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 assault that triggered the Israel–Hamas war and that his body was taken by the militant group Islamic Jihad. He was formally declared dead on May 16, 2024, and his remains were returned on Wednesday, a day after militants handed over other remains that did not match the two remaining hostages.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said Sudthisak's family has been notified. Bangkok thanked Israeli officials for their assistance in the operation that led to the accounting of all 31 Thai hostages taken at the start of the war: 28 returned alive and three returned deceased. The Thai Foreign Ministry has also reported that 46 Thais have been killed in the conflict.

Israeli citizen Ran Gvili is now the lone hostage whose remains have not been returned. Gvili, an Israeli police officer, helped people flee the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 assault and was later killed while fighting elsewhere, Israeli officials say.

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

The return of hostages is a central element of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire framework agreed in October. Both Hamas and Israel have accused the other side of violating the arrangement at various times. As part of these deals, Israel has also released Palestinian prisoners. Officials say broader plans to secure and administer parts of the territory remain at an early stage and many implementation details are unresolved. The proposed framework includes authorization for an international stabilization force and a transitional authority involving U.S. and other international actors, and it envisions a possible future pathway toward Palestinian statehood.

The war began with the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. Nearly all hostages or their remains have been returned through ceasefires or separate agreements since then.

Gaza's Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run administration, reported that the Palestinian death toll has exceeded 70,100 since the war began. The ministry says the toll has continued to rise after the Oct. 10 ceasefire took effect because Israeli strikes have continued in response to alleged truce violations and because bodies from earlier in the conflict are still being recovered from rubble. International agencies generally treat the Health Ministry's records as an important source of casualty data, while noting the challenging conditions under which they are compiled.

Reporting contributed by Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok.