Israel has confirmed that the body transferred from Gaza on Wednesday was that of Thai farm worker Sudthisak Rinthalak.
According to a statement from the prime minister’s office on Thursday, Rinthalak’s remains were delivered by the Red Cross after they were located in northern Gaza, and his identity was subsequently verified by Israeli forensic specialists.
Rinthalak, 43, was killed during the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be’eri in October 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza. He was one of nearly 250 hostages taken during the attack, which also saw some 1,200 people killed.
The body was found early on Wednesday by members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who handed it over to the Red Cross.
Israel verified Rinthalak’s death in May last year. He had been living and working in the country since 2017 and was divorced with no children, according to The Bangkok Post. He was from the town of Ratnawee in northern Thailand.
The latest handover narrows the number of unrecovered Israeli hostages in Gaza to just one: police officer Ran Gvili, 24, whose return is required to complete a key provision of the first stage of the US-mediated ceasefire plan, which calls for the release of all living and deceased hostages in exchange for Palestinian captives.
Israeli authorities notified Rinthalak’s family after the forensic examination confirmed his identity, The Times of Israel reported.
Thai government spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said that Rinthalak’s family had long understood he was killed on the day of the attack and that his remains had been held in Gaza ever since.
The spokesperson thanked the Israeli government for helping bring home all 31 Thai hostages, 28 of them alive.
In October, Thai authorities confirmed the body of another Thai migrant worker killed during the Hamas attack – Sonthaya Oakkharasri, 30 – had been recovered from Gaza.
Over recent days, Palestinian groups had turned over several sets of remains, though earlier transfers did not match the profiles of the last two missing hostages. Only with Wednesday’s delivery did investigators determine the remains belonged to Rinthalak.
“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Rinthalak family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the prime minister’s office said in its statement, adding that it was “determined, committed and working tirelessly” to retrieve the last missing hostage.
It also noted that Hamas was “required to fulfil its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement”.
The ceasefire deal agreed in October requires Hamas to release all hostages – living and dead – in exchange for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners.
The group has handed over 20 living captives and 27 bodies so far.
With only Gvili’s body still to be returned, negotiators believe the first stage of the ceasefire may soon reach its conclusion, though Israel continues to conduct deadly attacks across Gaza in violation of the truce. Gaza’s health ministry says the Palestinian death toll from the war has exceeded 70,100, a number that continues to rise despite the US-brokered truce.
Israeli forces claim their continuing attacks are in response to Hamas violating the ceasefire.
Rinthalak’s mother, identified as On by YNet, earlier said she had last spoken to him about 10 days before the 7 October 2023 attack.
“We asked him to come home to Thailand for a visit. We had not seen him for many years, since he flew to Israel to work. He said he wanted to save a little more money and then come home for good. Then October 7 happened and he was killed. I want my son home as soon as possible. I wait for him every day,” she said.
