December 4, 2025 / 2:21 AM EST / CBS/AP
Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday that remains handed over to Israel by militants in Gaza were identified as the last Thai hostage taken during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israeli authorities notified them that the remains returned Wednesday were identified as Sudhisak Rinthalak, a Thai national who worked on a kibbutz as an agricultural laborer. Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine confirmed the identification, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Thai ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said Sudhisak’s family had been notified. He said Sudhisak was killed on Oct. 7 and his body was taken into Gaza, and thanked the Israeli government for its assistance that led to the return of all Thai hostages.
Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire began in early October, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others have been returned to Israel. The returns are a central part of the ceasefire terms, which have largely held despite accusations of violations by both Hamas and Israel.
With the return of Rinthalak’s remains, only one hostage’s body is still believed to be in Gaza: Ran Gvili. Gvili, who served in an elite Israeli police unit, helped people escape the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attack, was later killed fighting elsewhere and his body was taken to Gaza; the military confirmed his death four months after the assault. He is survived by his parents and a sister.
“The Government and the entire Directorate for the Hostages and the Missing of the State of Israel are determined, committed, and working tirelessly to return National Counter-Terrorism Unit fighter and hero Master Sgt. Ran Gvili for a proper Jewish burial,” Netanyahu’s office said Thursday.
Since the ceasefire began, Israel has returned the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians to Gaza in exchange for hostages or their remains. Most of those Palestinian remains have not yet been formally identified.
