GAZA: Hamas has freed a group of 10 Thai citizens and one citizen from the Philippines who were being held in the Gaza Strip, as part of a separate deal to the one between the Palestinian group and Israel that saw Israeli captives and Palestinian detainees being freed. Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman of Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that the Thai citizens and Filipino were among a total of 24 hostages who were freed.
He said that the Thai citizens were “currently on their way out of the Gaza strip” with the ICRC. They were not covered by the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and Qatar and Egypt mediated a separate agreement with Hamas, Thai authorities said.
That dialogue track was opened when Thailand’s Minister for Foreign Affairs visited Doha on October 31, which led to a specific deal with Hamas to free the Thais, they maintained. Thai citizens were the single major group of foreign nationals taken captive.
Hamas Releases 10 Thai Nationals, one Filipino Under Separate Agreement: Qatar
On the other hand, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that he had received confirmation of the release of 12 citizens and that Thai embassy staff were to pick them up. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the group was brought to Rafah crossing. However, the Ministry did not share more details about the identity of Thai citizens.
Around 23 Thai workers are believed to be among the 240 people who were taken by Hamas during the October 7 surprise attack.
International mediators, including Qatar, the United States, and Egypt, hope that the momentum generated by the prisoner exchange and ceasefire will contribute to a broader effort to bring an end to the violence that has plagued the area for the past seven weeks.
