Body of Thai hostage retrieved from Gaza, says Israeli defence minister
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of Thai hostage, Nattapong Pinta, who had been held in Gaza since Hamas's attack on 7 October 2023, according to defence minister, Israel Katz. .
Pinta's body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahideen Brigades, and was retrieved from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz, a small community near the border, where one in four people was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas-led 2023 attack.
The Israeli military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved this week.
There was no immediate comment from the militant group.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in the 2023 attack, Israel's deadliest day, and took 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza. Twenty hostages are believed to still be alive, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel responded to the Hamas attacks with a military campaign that has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities in the Hamas-run strip, and left much of the enclave in ruins, with a population of more than 2 million people largely displaced.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Israel's appetite for war in Gaza threatens its relationship with the European Union
In Israel, it can seem like only one other place really matters. Washington DC is on the other side of the world but provides Israel with weapons, the backing of the most powerful military in the world, and a critical diplomatic shield in forums like the United Nations. Yet the country's economy is bound far more closely to Europe than to the United States. A third of its trade is with the European Union, key academic work is supported by grants from the EU's multi-billion dollar Horizon research fund, and it is the top destination for Israelis who want to travel. 'Geography doesn't change, and not having any partners apart from UAE in the region means Europe will always be the gateway. The US will always be 8,000km away,' said one western diplomat. These ties have never translated into much political clout for Europe though, in part because the continent has long been hobbled by divisions over policy on Israel. Critics of Israel's illegal settlements and more recently its war in Gaza have repeatedly been outweighed and outvoted by a combination of older member states like Germany and Austria who are bound to Israel by history, and newer member nations, particularly Hungary, drawn by a shared ethno-nationalist vision. 'To have leverage implies that you are willing and able to use it,' said Josep Borrell, former EU policy chief. 'If you can live in an illegal settlement and still travel freely to Europe, and export [products] to Europe, how do we expect them to take our condemnations seriously?' When three of Israel's staunchest historic allies – France, the UK and Canada – last month threatened to take action over Israel's war in Gaza, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused their leaders of siding with Hamas and fuelling antisemitism. He sounded like a man who considered his country invulnerable, the target of his attacks, toothless and irrelevant, or perhaps both. 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Last month the Netherlands, traditionally one of Israel's staunchest European allies, requested an urgent review of whether Israel had breached human rights obligations that underpin its free trade deal with the bloc. Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the framework that allows free trade, free travel and academic collaboration, lays out respect for human rights and democratic principles as an 'essential element' of the relationship. Their request won backing from 17 EU member states, an unexpectedly large group. Some of that support came at the last minute, said one diplomat involved in discussions, amid a growing sense that unless Europe imposes a cost for ignoring its concerns Israel will continue to take the allies on its doorstep for granted. The EU's foreign policy service found 'indications' of rights violations, according to a report copy seen by the Guardian. 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Israel's advanced weapons and cyber intelligence products may be sought after, but in overall trade for the EU it ranks behind other Mediterranean nations including Morocco and Algeria, in 31st place. Diplomats hope some other potential measures might generate indirect pressure on the government inside Israel, through their impact on voters. A halt to visa-free travel to Europe, would be deeply unpopular and felt immediately. 'Maybe there is a bit of hope that in combination with this initiative, it also seems like things are changing in Israeli society,' said one European official, citing growing demonstrations inside Israel against Palestinian civilian casualties. 'People don't want their country to be a pariah state.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
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Western leaders call for diplomacy, but they won't stop this war – they refuse to even name its cause
Since the war on Gaza started, the defining dynamic has been of unprecedented anger, panic and alarm from the public, swirling around an eerily placid political centre. The feeble response from mainstream liberal parties is entirely dissonant with the gravity of the moment. As the US joins Israel in attacking Iran, and the Middle East heads toward a calamitous unravelling, their inertness is more disorienting than ever. They are passengers in Israel's war, either resigned to the consequences or fundamentally unwilling to even question its wisdom. As reality screams at politicians across the west, they shuffle papers and reheat old rhetoric, all while deferring to an Israel and a White House that have long taken leave of their senses. At a time of extreme geopolitical risk the centre presents itself as the wise party in the fracas, making appeals for cool heads and diplomacy, but is entirely incapable of addressing or challenging the root cause. Some are afraid to even name it. 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Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Mahmoud Khalil sparks outrage days after being released from ICE detention amid calls for him to be deported
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