Dec 4 (Reuters) – Israel has identified the remains of the hostage it received from Hamas on Wednesday as Thai agricultural worker Sudthisak Rinthalak, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.
The body of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili, the last of the living and deceased hostages to be returned, is still in Gaza.
The handover of the last hostages’ bodies in Gaza would complete a key condition of the initial part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza war.
Rinthalak’s body was transferred from Gaza by the Red Cross, and was handed over to the Israeli military to be sent for forensic identification, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Rinthalak, 42, was killed at Kibbutz Be’eri during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas agreed to hand over all living and deceased hostages held in Gaza under a ceasefire agreed in October. Since the fragile truce started, the Palestinian militant group has returned all 20 living hostages and 27 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher in Cairo, Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kate Mayberry)
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