One hostage remains in Gaza, and next steps are unclear

Remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel were those of Thai agricultural worker Sudthisak Rinthalak, Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday.

- By Auprey Horowitz, Samy Macpy AND Toqa EzzIDIN

The confirmation brought the first phase of Gaza’s tenuous eight-week-old ceasefire a step closer to completion, with one more hostage’s remains still to be returned.

The subsequent phases under a U.S.-drafted, U.N.-backed plan for Gaza remain deeply uncertain. There has been no word on how provisions for Hamas’ disarmament will be carried out, or how a planned international administration and security force will be established.

Both Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the truce since it began Oct. 10. Israeli airstrikes and shootings during the ceasefire have killed some 366 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel says Hamas has carried out attacks on its soldiers. Around half the devastated Gaza Strip remains under Israeli military control, with most of the population of some 2 million displaced from their homes and dependent on international aid.

In a sign of the potential for turmoil, the leader of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia, Yasser Abu Shabab, was shot to death during a dispute with another family in southern Gaza, his militia said Thursday. The killing could be a setback for Israeli efforts to prop up its own alternative to Hamas in Gaza.

The Popular Forces is one of several armed Palestinian groups supported by Israel and operating in Israeli-controlled zones. The groups tout themselves as anti-Hamas nationalist forces but have been denounced by many Palestinians, including Abu Shabab’s family, as tools of the Israeli military.

Returning remains

Sudthisak, whose remains were handed over by militants Wednesday, had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel.

Thais make up a large part of Israel's agricultural workforce. They were the largest group of foreigners to be taken captive by militants in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.