Israel has identified the body of Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, murdered during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre and returned to Israeli authorities on Wednesday.

Rinthalak, a young agricultural worker from Thailand, was gunned down near Kibbutz Be’eri on the morning of October 7. Terrorists dragged his body into Gaza, one of several foreign laborers seized or murdered in the opening hours of the attack. Forensic teams have now completed the identification process, allowing Israeli officials to formally notify his family.

According to Israeli authorities, Palestinian Islamic Jihad located Rinthalak’s remains in northern Gaza yesterday morning. Later in the day, Islamic Jihad and Hamas transferred the body to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which delivered it to the IDF.

The return leaves just one slain hostage still held in Gaza: Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, a police officer killed in combat while defending the border community of Alumim the same morning Hamas overran southern Israel. Gvili’s abduction — and Hamas’s continued refusal to release his body — has become a flashpoint in Israeli politics and a symbol of the terror group’s ongoing defiance of international mediation efforts.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office expressed condolences to the Rinthalak family and reiterated Israel’s commitment to recovering every hostage and fallen soldier.

“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Rinthalak family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the PMO said. “Israel is determined, committed, and working tirelessly to bring back the final slain hostage for burial.”

The statement also called on the terror group to hand over the last body immediately, noting that Hamas is “required to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)