Photo: Collected
Hamas freed 10 Thai nationals and a Filipino alongside Israeli hostages who were part of the first swap under a new cease-fire deal - including four Thais who had not been officially listed as abducted, Thailand's Foreign Ministry announced Saturday (25 November) morning.
Thais were the single biggest group of foreigners taken hostage when Hamas took some 240 people during its Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel. Thais working in Israel are mostly employed as semi-skilled farm laborers, at wages considerably higher than those they can earn at home.
The ministry said the group of 10 Thais in all - nine men and one woman - were undergoing health checks at a medical center in Israel. They would stay there for at least 48 hours before flying home to Thailand. It released photos of the freed hostages in the Israeli hospital where they were taken Friday (24 November) after their release.
There was confusion overnight about the number of Thais freed, with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin writing on X (formerly Twitter), that 12 had been freed.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry said that figure came from the Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv. However, it revised the number downward after the spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari, posted on X that the number was 10. Qatar played a key role in making arrangements for the hostage releases.
The release of four Thais previously not known to be held by Hamas militants leaves 20 currently listed as being held captive.
On Friday night, Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara wrote online that he was overjoyed at news of the release. He had traveled more than three weeks ago to Egypt and Qatar to seek their help in obtaining the hostages' freedom.
Thailand thanked Qatar, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Messenger/Sun Yath
