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Six Thai hostages who had been kidnapped and held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for weeks were set to return home, according to official announcements.
Six Thai hostages who had been kidnapped and held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for weeks were set to return home, according to official announcements. Israel’s government said that tens of thousands of Thais worked there, particularly in the agricultural sector, and that 1,200 persons, mostly civilians, had been slain and about 240 kidnapped as Palestinian operatives surged across the border on October 7. At least thirty-two Thai nationals were abducted by Hamas; their release is being negotiated by Muslim organizations in Thailand and the foreign ministry in Bangkok. After being held captive for weeks, six are expected to land at Suvarnabhumi airport in the capital on Monday at around 2:00 p.m. (0700 GMT). After being let free, the group has been recuperating at a medical facility in Israel while arrangements are being made for their aerial return. It follows the seventeen Thai nationals who were repatriated at the end of November, during which there was a brief ceasefire that resulted in the release of numerous captives before it ended on December 1. Nine additional Thais are still being held captive by Palestinian agents following their cross-border incursion into Israel in October, according to the foreign ministry of Bangkok. Israel conducted a massive air, artillery, and naval bombardment campaign along with a military invasion into Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 onslaught. About 15,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians, are said to have died as a result, according to Palestinian sources. Thirty thousand Thais were residing in Israel at the time of the attack; the majority were migrant laborers from Thailand’s less affluent northeastern regions. According to the Thai foreign ministry, over 8,500 nationals had to be evacuated from the country as a result of the conflict, which has left 39 Thais dead and 19 injured.
