Hamas released a group of 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen held in Gaza, in a deal separate from that between Israel and the Palestinian group that saw the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry – which played a key mediating role – said on Friday that the Thai and Filipino nationals were among the 24 captives released.
The Thai nationals, he said, were “currently in the process of leaving the strip” with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
They were not covered by the truce agreement between Hamas and Israel, and Qatar and Egypt negotiated a separate agreement with Hamas, Thai officials said.
This avenue of negotiation was opened when the Thai foreign minister visited Qatar on October 31, leading to a specific agreement with Hamas to free the Thais, the officials added. Thai nationals made up the largest group of captured foreigners.
But Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced earlier on X that he had received confirmation of the release of 12 Thai nationals and that Thai embassy officials would collect them.
The group was taken to Rafah and then to the Karem Abu Salem crossing, called Kerem Shalom by Israel, east of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, the Thai Foreign Ministry said. They were transported to a treatment point at Hatzerim Air Base and were to be taken to Shamir Medical Center, southeast of Tel Aviv.
“At the moment, the gender and names of these Thais are not known,” the ministry statement said.
Besides Qatar and Egypt, the ministry also thanked Israel, Iran, Malaysia and the ICRC.
Iran and Thailand maintain friendly relations and prominent members of Thailand’s Muslim minority have made unofficial trips to Tehran to demand the captives’ freedom, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said his Iranian counterpart, who served as an intermediary between Thailand and Hamas, told him there would be “good news soon,” according to the report.
At least 23 Thai workers are believed to be among 240 people captured by Hamas in the October 7 attack.
Thirty-two other Thai workers were killed in the attack in southern Israel.
According to the Thai ministry, some 30,000 Thais were working mainly in Israel’s agricultural sector at the time of the attack. Since then, more than 8,600 Thai workers have been voluntarily repatriated.
Under an agreement with Israel, Thai workers receive a minimum wage of 5,300 shekels per month ($2,000), six to seven times more than they earn at home.
Qatar led weeks of intense negotiations, in coordination with the United States and Egypt, to reach an agreement on the release of 50 civilian hostages from Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a brief truce and access to humanitarian aid.
Thirteen Israelis, including dual nationals, were released by Hamas on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the agreement to release the captives would not mean the end of the war, saying Israel would continue its efforts to “eliminate” Hamas.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, reiterated at a solidarity rally for captives’ families in Tel Aviv that the army would resume fighting after the humanitarian pause.
“I want to assure the families of all the hostages: we will not stop. We will resume efforts and military action in Gaza to recover hostages and restore deterrence,” Gantz said.
In his first statement since the release of the Israeli captives, Netanyahu said their return was “one of the objectives of the war and we are determined to achieve all the objectives of the war.”