Israel has confirmed the identity of the hostage received from Hamas on Wednesday as Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai agricultural worker, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office on Thursday. The remains of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili, the last of the hostages to be returned, are still in Gaza.
The transfer of the hostages’ bodies from Gaza fulfills a crucial condition of the initial phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza conflict. Rinthalak, aged 42, was killed during Hamas’ assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, at Kibbutz Be’eri.
Hamas agreed to release all living and deceased hostages as part of a ceasefire deal reached in October. Since the truce began, the Palestinian militant group has returned all 20 living hostages and 27 bodies in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.
Despite a decrease in violence following the ceasefire, Israel has continued to conduct airstrikes and demolitions in Gaza, targeting what it claims to be Hamas infrastructure. Both sides have accused each other of violating the U.S.-backed agreement.
In a recent incident, five Palestinians, including two children, were killed in an Israeli missile strike on an encampment in western Khan Younis. The casualties, all from the same family, were taken to Kuwait Specialty Hospital, where 32 others were reported injured. Relatives mourned the victims as their bodies were transported through Khan Younis.
A witness near the attack site described the intense Israeli fire that destroyed the tent where the children were sleeping, questioning the violation of the ceasefire agreement. The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a “Hamas terrorist” in response to an earlier attack on its troops in Rafah.
In a separate development, the leader of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia, Yasser Abu Shabab, was killed in Gaza during a dispute with another family. His death could impact Israel’s efforts to establish an alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza. The Popular Forces, a group supported by Israel, clarified that Abu Shabab was not killed by Hamas but in an internal conflict.
Since the ceasefire commenced, over 350 Palestinians have lost their lives, as reported by Gaza health authorities. Israeli authorities confirmed the deaths of three soldiers at the hands of Palestinian militants during this period.
