Local medics have reported that forty-five individuals have died due to Israeli attacks on Gaza, coinciding with Israel’s announcement of retrieving the body of a Thai hostage held since Hamas’s assault on 7 October 2023.
According to local health authorities, at least 15 Palestinians lost their lives and 50 were injured following airstrikes in the Sabra district of Gaza City, northern Gaza.
Multiple missiles targeted the area.
Witnesses and media reports indicate that a multi-story residential building was the primary target, but the explosion also affected several neighboring homes.
In related news, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that the Israeli military has recovered the body of Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta, abducted during Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Mr. Pinta’s body was retrieved from Rafah in southern Gaza, where it had been held by the Palestinian militant group, Mujahedeen Brigades.
Mr. Pinta, an agricultural worker, was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small community near the border, which suffered severely during the Hamas-led attack—one in four residents was either killed or taken hostage.
The Israeli military claims Mr. Pinta was abducted alive and subsequently murdered by his captors, who also killed and took the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages recovered this week.
A military statement assured that Mr. Pinta’s family and Thai officials had been informed about the operation to recover his remains.
According to the community in Nir Oz, 117 residents were killed, and over 60% of the houses were destroyed during the attack.
The body of Nattapong Pinta, shown here with his family, was retrieved from Gaza, as reported by Israeli authorities.
As this unfolds, the United Nations has issued a warning that a significant portion of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants faces a famine risk following an 11-week Israeli blockade, with young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Yesterday, aid distribution ceased after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the US and Israel, reported that overcrowding made operations unsafe.
It remains uncertain whether aid has resumed.
On Wednesday, the GHF suspended its operations and requested a security review from the Israeli military after Palestinian hospital officials reported over 80 fatalities and hundreds of injuries near distribution points between June 1-3.
Beginning at the end of May, the GHF started distributing food packages in Gaza, managing a new approach to aid that the UN has criticized as neither impartial nor neutral, claiming it has provided around 9 million meals to date.
Israel is under increasing international scrutiny regarding its actions against Hamas, which have triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and displaced a large part of the population.
Families of those who are still hostages fear for their safety amid the ongoing Israeli offensive and worry that those confirmed dead may never be found.
Reports suggest that over 40 hostages have died while in captivity, some due to Israeli strikes and others killed by their captors.
The destruction left behind in Gaza City is evident, as shown in the rubble of demolished houses.
In a separate issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that Israel supports an armed group in Gaza that opposes Hamas, following remarks by a former minister about Israeli weapon transfers to this group.
Israeli and Palestinian reports indicate that the group in question is associated with a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a “criminal gang operating in the Rafah area, often accused of looting aid trucks.”
Knesset member and former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman remarked to the Kan public broadcaster that the government, under Netanyahu’s orders, was “arming a group of criminals and felons.”
Netanyahu responded, stating, “What did Lieberman leak? … Based on security advice, we activated clans in Gaza opposing Hamas. What is wrong with that? It’s beneficial, saving the lives of Israeli soldiers.”
Read more: ‘We do not fear them’ – flotilla activists on the way to Gaza.
Michael Milshtein, a Palestinian affairs expert at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, highlighted that the Abu Shabab clan is part of a Bedouin tribe straddling the Gaza-Egypt border.
Some members of the tribe are known to be involved in various illegal activities, including drug smuggling.
Israeli army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin confirmed military support for local militia armaments in Gaza but provided few details.
“We are operating in various ways against Hamas governance,” Defrin stated during a televised press conference, without elaborating further.
