Body of Thai hostage retrieved, Israel says; 95 killed in Gaza
Israeli officials said on Saturday, June 7, that they retrieved the body of a Thai hostage, Nattapong Pinta, who was taken by Hamas. Pinta was a farmworker on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel who was in his 30s, according to an Israeli military statement reported on by the New York Times.
Pinta, the statement said, was held by and then killed by members of the Mujahideen Brigades. The Mujahideen Brigades are a militant group in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. They also held Israeli-American hostages, Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai, the Israeli military said, as well as Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two sons. Weinstein and Haggai’s remains were returned to Israel on Thursday, June 5.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement in the afternoon of June 7 that they killed As’ad Abu Sharaiya, head of the Mujahideen Brigades, and a Mujahideen member, Mahmoud Muhammad Hamid Kuhail, in a joint IDF and Israel Security Agency operation.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said the last Thai hostage in Gaza is dead. Two other bodies have not been retrieved.
Fifty-five hostages are still in Gaza, the Associated Press said. Of these, the Israeli military said more than half are dead.
Israeli offensive kills dozens in 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry says
Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed at least 95 people, Gaza’s health ministry said.
At least 15 Palestinians died and 50 were injured in airstrikes in the Gaza City district of Sabra, Reuters reported local health authorities as saying. Reuters writes that the Israeli military told people to evacuate Jabalia, which is nearby.
Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals reported that six members of a family, two of whom were children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City that the AP said was targeting the leader of the Mujahideen Brigades. Nasser hospital staff said they received the bodies of six people in the last 24 hours who were killed while on their way to get food aid, the AP reported.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it can’t distribute aid
On June 7, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates with support from the United States and Israel, said on Saturday it couldn’t distribute aid to Palestinians. Reuters said they blamed threats by Hamas, but the militant group denied these claims.
“These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk,” the GHF said in a statement. A Hamas official said to Reuters that he didn’t know about the “alleged threats.”
The foundation has paused aid efforts multiple times, most recently before this on June 6. Reports from the Jerusalem Post and Reuters stated the GHF attributed that suspension to excessive crowding.
Israel has been accused of killing civilians at GHF distribution centers. On Tuesday, June 3, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that more than 27 people were killed near one. While the Israeli military acknowledged opening fire, they stated that area is in an active combat zone and that they were targeting “suspects.”
Between June 1 and 3, more than 80 people were shot and killed, and hundreds wounded, near the centers, Reuters reported. The GHF, which has been criticized by the United Nations for a lack of neutrality, denied media reports of violence to the Jerusalem Post.
The U.N. said as of May 2025, the average person in Gaza was only eating 1,400 calories a day, or 67% of what the average human body needs to survive. They and other organizations have been warning of a famine in Gaza.
Militants led by Hamas killed around 1,200 people in the Oct.7 attack in Israel and abducted 251 hostages, some of whom have been released.
Israel’s military actions have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, who are mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
