The body of Nattapong Pinta, a Thai farm worker who died soon after he was captured, was recovered over the weekend. In Thailand, the authorities expressed their sadness over the death. The sister of another hostage, Bipin Joshi, from Nepal, issued an appeal for his release, but his fate remains uncertain. In Israel, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) is set to vote on Wednesday on a motion to dissolve it over the issue of military service for Haredi Jews.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – The Thai government recently said that it was “deeply sad” over the death of one of its fellow citizens in Gaza. This comes after his body was discovered last weekend and later recovered by the Israelis during an army operation in the territory.

“The Royal Thai Government and I have learned with great sadness on the passing of Mr. Nattapong Pinta, a Thai hostage in the Gaza Strip,” Prime Minister Shinawatra wrote on social media.

At the same time, the prime minister said that her government would do its utmost to guarantee the swift return of Thais who died in Gaza, while the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv is undertaking the necessary arrangements to repatriate the bodies.

The Thai government's statement follows Israel’s announcement on Saturday that it had recovered the remains of the Thai national.

According to initial information, he was killed soon after he was captured but no further information is available to the causes and manner of his death.

A spokesperson for Thailand’s Foreign Ministry, Nikorndej Balankura, said that Israel informed the Thai embassy that the last Thai hostage was confirmed dead, and that his body had been recovered in the Rafah area, southern Gaza, and brought to Israel in a special military operation.

Nattapong Pinta had emigrated from Thailand to work in an Israeli farm. Israel’s agricultural sector relies heavily on workers from several Asian countries.

The hostage’s family, who live in Phrae province, and Thai officials had been informed by their Israeli counterparts of the recovery operation, while two others are still being held in Gaza but have yet to be identified.

In a message of condolence for the death of her compatriot, Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra also addressed the parties involved in the conflict, urging them to pursue a “peaceful and lasting” solution to the conflict. “Thailand reiterates our call for all sides to return to the negotiating table to pursue a peaceful and lasting resolution to the conflict,” she added.

The issue of hostages has been among the most controversial since Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people on the Israeli side, and triggered a bloody war in Gaza with at least 55,000 deaths, mostly civilians, including women and children.

This issue has also become politically hot in Israel, pitting the radical right, which is pushing for the continuation of the war even at the expense of the hostages, against the latter’s families who have asked the government for months to make every effort for their return.

Initially some hope came when a truce was worked out, entailing the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for hostages, some of them migrants from Thailand to Nepal, the "forgotten face" on the margins of the tragedy. But this proved fruitless as the process collapsed.

One of the hostages still held by Hamas is from Nepal, Bipin Joshi. The last time his family received some information about his fate was back in October 2024.

His sister Pushpa Joshi recently gave an interview to Ynet, an Israeli news website, in an attempt to plead the cause of her relative, so that all avenues are explored to bring him home and ensure that his story is not forgotten.

The family, she stressed, is going through “critical and difficult” days waiting for “good news” that is not arriving, “searching for news on the internet.” The latest, scant information suggests that the young man’s life was “in danger” without further details.

No Israeli official has directly contacted the family. "No one. No idea, no communication from any officials.” Pushpa said. Hence she appealed directly to the Israeli government "from the core of my heart" to "do whatever they can.” So far this has been in vain.

“Do what is in your hands and bring my brother back. Please feel our deep pain. We are waiting for good news,” Pushpa said. Still hopeful, she said that, “Yes, I still believe. My heart always tells me that he is alive and one day he will come back safely.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy boarded and seized the Madleen, a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that was headed to Gaza with a cargo of aid and carrying activists and well-known faces, including environmentalist Greta Thunberg.

Commenting on the incident, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the celebrities’ is safely making its ways to the shores of Israel” while the people on board “are expected to return to their countries of origin.”

Meanwhile, in Israel, a possible government crisis is brewing with a vote to dissolve the Knesset expected on Wednesday, which might lead to fresh elections.

The breaking point is imposing military service on Haredi Jews, a red line for two ultra-Orthodox parties (Shas and United Torah Judaism) that withdraw their support if they do not get an exemption.

The issue is certainly not marginal in a country that has been at war for over 600 days and that is in extreme need of manpower to sustain the military efforts.

“As things stand, we will vote on Wednesday in favour of dissolving the Knesset, Shas spokesman Asher Medina. “We are disappointed with [Prime Minister Benyamin] Netanyahu. We expected him to take action previously and not just in the past few days,” he added.

In view of this, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz ordered his party to withdraw all its legislation from the plenum agenda on Wednesday, save for a bill to dissolve the Knesset.

• israel
• thailand
• nepal
• gaza
• palestine
• hamas
• hostages
• migrant workers
• rescue
• death
• recovery