JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Thursday that two Thai hostages earlier believed to be alive in Gaza were killed in the October 7 attack and their bodies are being held in the Palestinian territory.
“We informed the families of two kidnapped Thai citizens, who worked in agriculture in the plantations near Kibbutz Beeri, that they were murdered in the terrorist attack on October 7 and their bodies are being held by Hamas,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
There are now six Thai hostages being held in Gaza, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Thailand has about 30,000 citizens in Israel, most of whom work in the agricultural sector.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
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Israel army says two Thai hostages held in Gaza are dead
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Israel army says two Thai hostages held in Gaza are dead
- There are now six Thai hostages being held in Gaza
Israeli settlements in West Bank growing at highest level since 2017: UN report
UNITED NATIONS: The expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is at its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking such data, according to a report by the United Nations secretary-general seen by AFP on Friday.
In 2025, “plans for nearly 47,390 housing units were advanced, approved, or tendered, compared with some 26,170 in 2024,” the report said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called the “relentless” expansion in a statement accompanying the report, saying it “continues to fuel tensions, impede access by Palestinians to their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State.”
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