BANGKOK – On Thursday, November 30, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin congratulated and thanked all parties who made it possible for the fifth batch of four Thai people to be released, while the 17 released Thai hostages are on their way back to Thailand.
The 17 Thai people left Shamir Hospital in Ramle to take an El Al Airlines aircraft LY 081 and arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport around 3 p.m. on November 30.
They thanked the prime minister, who is in Uttaradit province, via a video call, while the PM congratulated and told them if there is any information that would be useful, they can tell Panpree Bahiddha-Nukara, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Throughout the period since October 7, all Thai people are concerned about all of you, give moral support, and try to do our best. I’m happy that today you return to Thailand,” the PM said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement that the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed that six (6) Thai nationals were released on 28 (4th release) and 29 (5th release) November 2023 (local Israeli time).
They are now at the designated Shamir Medical Center and will undergo the necessary medical checkups, while The Royal Thai Embassy staff are on hand to contact their families.
Thai hostages kidnapped by Hamas in its October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel have been freed so far, with 9 still remaining in captivity. There were about 30,000 Thai overseas workers in Israel, mostly in the agricultural sector, but more than 8,000 have returned home since the attack
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warmly congratulates the recently released hostages and their families and thanks all parties involved in the efforts towards this latest release.
“For the remaining 9 Thai hostages, the Royal Thai Government continues to exert all efforts towards their safe release at the earliest opportunity, while preparing to bring back those who have already been released back to Thailand after their preliminary checks as soon as possible,” it stated.
Earlier, Mr. Panpree, along with Air Vice Marshal Wachira Roengrit, Representative of Chief of Defense Force, and Mr. Sarmart Pattamasukhon, Inspector-General, Ministry of Labour, visited RTE Tel Aviv to give moral support to the Embassy officials, and met with representatives of the Thai workers, to answer their inquiries and reassured them that the Embassy will continue to look after them.
The Associated Press reported that Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed to extend a temporary truce by another day, minutes before it was set to expire, Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides.
Negotiations on extending it came down to the wire, with last-minute disagreements over the hostages to be freed by Hamas in exchange for another day of a halt in fighting.
Word of the extension came just as the truce was to expire at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) Thursday. The Qatari Foreign Ministry said the truce was being extended under the same terms as in the past, under which Hamas has released 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners.
The announcement followed a last-minute standoff earlier Thursday, with Hamas saying Israel had rejected a proposed list that included seven living captives and the remains of three who the group said were killed in previous Israeli airstrikes. Israel later said Hamas submitted an improved list, paving the way for the extension.
Negotiators had been working into Thursday to hammer out details for a further extension of the truce. The expectation had been to extend the pause in fighting for at least another day or two, with the focus on releasing women and children.
The talks appear to be growing tougher as most of the women and children held by Hamas are freed, as the militants are expected to seek greater releases in return for freeing men and soldiers.
International pressure has mounted for the cease-fire to continue as long as possible after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians, uprooted three quarters of the population of 2.3 million and led to a humanitarian crisis.
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives. Still, Netanyahu underscored on Wednesday that Israel will resume its campaign to eliminate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the war.
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