Bangkok: Six Thai people who were kidnapped and held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are set to return to Thailand on Monday, as confirmed by officials. During an incident on October 7, Palestinian operatives crossed the border into Israel, resulting in 1,200 casualties, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of around 240 individuals, including tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel. Among them, 32 Thais were abducted by Hamas. Bangkok’s foreign ministry and Thai Muslim groups have been actively negotiating for their release.
On Monday, approximately at 2:00 pm (0700 GMT), six individuals are anticipated to arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport in the capital after spending weeks in captivity. Since their release, the group has been recovering at an Israeli hospital while authorities make arrangements for their journey home. This follows the return of 17 Thai citizens in late November, facilitated by a temporary truce that led to the release of many people before its expiration on December 1.
According to Bangkok’s foreign ministry, nine Thais are still among the hostages taken by Palestinian operatives in the cross-border raid into Israel in October. In response to Hamas’s October 7 attack, Israel conducted a substantial campaign involving air, artillery, and naval strikes, along with a ground offensive into Gaza, resulting in over 15,500 casualties, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian officials. At the time of the raid, Thailand had 30,000 citizens in Israel, the majority being migrant workers from the kingdom’s poorer northeastern provinces. In the ongoing conflict, 39 Thais have been killed, 19 wounded, and more than 8,500 evacuated, as reported by Thailand’s foreign ministry.