On Tuesday, Thailand's foreign minister, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, held back his tears as he welcomed Thai hostages freed by Hamas after seven weeks of captivity.
Four Thai workers were released late Wednesday, bringing the total number of freed hostages to 23.
Bahiddha-Nukara Welcomes Released Thai Hostages
Thai nationals who were taken hostage by Hamas militants and recently released, walk toward a bus as they leave the Shamir Medical Center near the city of Ramla, heading toward the airport to be flown home, on November 29, 2023.
On Tuesday, another two were released and taken to Shamir Medical Center. They got emotional as they embraced each other on arrival, wiping their tears and cheering, "We survived! We survived!"
Bahiddha-Nukara said in a Reuters interview after an emotional meeting with the workers that they were not part of the conflict and shared that there were no conditions for the hostages' release. He said that he had discussions with his counterparts in several Middle Eastern countries to keep in touch with Hamas contacts to send him updates about the release of hostages.
Bahiddha-Nukara went around to speak to various countries who could connect with the Hamas group to explain that the Thai workers were innocent and they were not part of politics and just wanted to earn a living.
According to Thailand, Palestinian Hamas gunmen from Gaza killed 39 Thais in the October 7 attack in Israel, where about 30,000 Thai laborers have been working in the agriculture sector, one of Israel's largest migrant worker groups.
The Thai foreign ministry reported that three Thais were being treated for wounds in hospital. Out of the 32 taken hostage, 13 hostages remain in captivity, and he hoped to win their release soon.
A Thai Muslim group spoke directly with Hamas. The group said that their efforts were key to ensuring that Thai hostages were among the first to be released in Gaza during the temporary ceasefire with Israeli forces on Monday.
The Thai-Iran Alumni Association president, Lerpong Syed, noted that they were the sole party that spoke to Hamas since the beginning of the war to ask for the release of Thais.
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Hamas Hostages
Israel reported that Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages back to Gaza on October 7. According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 15,000 people were killed in Israel's military campaign.
Hamas released a total of 58 hostages, primarily women and children, and Israel freed 117 Palestinian prisoners during the first three days of the truce.
Some of the released hostages were fed and not tortured. However, some hostages have been admitted to hospitals with serious injuries or medical conditions.
According to CNN, an estimate of 40 to 50 hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other groups or individuals, which was recorded before the handover of hostages that began on Friday.
Thailand's population of 70 million is predominantly Buddhist and has largely co-existed peacefully with its Muslim minority, although a long-running separatist insurgency in the south periodically flares into violence.
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