Search efforts resumed Thursday in the Zeitoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, after similar searches took place in the area last week. The Qatari network Al Jazeera reported that a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross, together with the Hamas terrorist organization, was set to renew the search for a deceased hostage.
The two deceased hostages who currently remain in Gaza are Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, 24 and Sudthisak Rinthalak, 43. Gvili, a Yasam officer in the Israel Police special patrol unit, killed 14 terrorists before he was abducted. Rinthalak, a Thai agricultural worker, was kidnapped while working in the orchards.
The officer who fought with a broken shoulder
Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili (24), an Israel Police Special Patrol Unit (riot police) officer from Meitar, acted with great bravery and self-sacrifice during the battle in Alumim on October 7. An expert committee officially determined on January 30 that Gvili was no longer alive. Gvili had suffered a broken shoulder approximately ten days before the massacre and was awaiting surgery.
On the morning of October 7, after his family descended to their shelter, Gvili left and returned dressed in uniform.
His father, Itzik Gvili, recalled, "Rani said he would not let his friends fight alone, and that despite the broken shoulder, he could hold a pistol. I will never forget his look – it was as if he was saying, 'I've been waiting for this my whole life.'" Gvili reached the Beersheba police station, deployed to the battle in Alumim, and was shot in his hand and leg.
His mother, Talik Gvili, explained, "Rani took cover near a eucalyptus tree and applied a tourniquet to himself. He updated his friends on the direction the terrorists were approaching from. Meanwhile, dozens of Hamas operatives arrived and surrounded him." While facing them alone, he successfully eliminated 14 of the terrorists just moments before he was kidnapped.
Despite the declaration that he was deceased, his parents expressed doubts about his death. "There are quite a few question marks arising from the details conveyed to us," Talik Gvili stated. "There are contradictions between the findings that were presented to us."
The Thai worker kidnapped from the orchards
Sutthisak Rinthalak (43) was a Thai national who had been employed in agriculture in Israel since 2017. He is survived by his parents and a brother. On the morning of the massacre, he was working in the orchards near Kibbutz Beeri.
On May 16, seven months after the massacre, his parents received the terrible news that their son had been murdered and his body was being held in Gaza. He was one of eight Thai citizens kidnapped to the Strip. Approximately two weeks after the massacre, his aunt was interviewed in Thailand and recounted that Rinthalak habitually sent money to his parents. On the day of the massacre, a video was shared from the terrorist attack in which she witnessed her nephew being kidnapped.
