Body of ‘hardworking, beloved’ Thai national recovered in Gaza by IDF

The operation involved the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps, including its Yahalom special forces unit, and the Oketz canine unit, the statement added.

By JNS

The remains of a Thai agriculture worker who was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, were recovered in a special operation carried out in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the two defense bodies announced on Saturday.

Nattapong Pinta, 36, was abducted “with some of his friends” from Kibbutz Nir Oz, situated near the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

It further confirmed that he was murdered shortly after the Hamas onslaught by the Mujahideen Brigades, a Palestinian terrorist organization that was also responsible for the murder at Nir Oz of Judi Weinstein-Haggai and Gadi Haggai and then carrying their bodies to Gaza (the IDF recovered their remains two days ago), and the abduction of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel, and their subsequent murder in the Strip.

The Mujahideen Brigades collaborates closely with Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.

Pinta’s body was recovered thanks to “precise intelligence” obtained from a terrorist who was interrogated by the Shin Bet, along with additional information gathered by the Hostage Task Force in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, the IDF and Shin Bet said.

The operation involved the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps, including its Yahalom special forces unit, and the army’s Oketz canine unit, the statement added.

Pinta’s wife and son in Thailand were informed on Saturday morning of the latest development by the Thai Embassy in Israel and the coordinator for hostages and missing persons, Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Pinta’s body will be returned to Thailand for burial, with a ceremony to be held for him at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

The Thai national was a “hardworking and beloved man” and his body was kept in captivity for 610 days, the IDF said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz expressed sorrow over the fate of Pinta.

“Nattapong came from Thailand to Israel to work in agriculture, seeking to build a better future for himself and his family, and was brutally murdered in captivity,” Katz said.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to his wife, his young son, and his family, and I thank our brave fighters who operate time and again under fire to bring back all the hostages, out of a deep moral commitment. We will not rest until all the hostages, the living and the fallen, are brought home.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that the return of Pinta’s remains “constitutes the fulfillment of a basic human moral duty, which will allow his family the necessary closure.”

Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom up to 23 are believed to be alive, according to official Israeli estimates.