Thai hostages released by Hamas return to Bangkok after being held for over a year

Five Thai workers released after being held hostage for over a year in Gaza arrived in Bangkok on Sunday, a day after Hamas militants released three gaunt Israeli hostages.

Sarusak Rumnao, 32, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Pongsak Thaenna, 36, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, were freed on January 30 as part of an exchange arrangement.

A Thai hostage freed by Hamas, Bannawat Saethao, left, hugs a relative upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.Credit: AP

They were embraced by family members, some of whom cried, in the arrivals hall at Suvarnabhumi airport. Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sagniampongsa and the Israeli ambassador to Thailand were both at the airport to welcome home the freed hostages.

They were the second batch of Thai hostages released since the war broke out. During an earlier ceasefire in November 2023, 23 Thai nationals were released in a deal negotiated between Thailand and Hamas, with assistance from Qatar and Iran.

All five men were assessed at a hospital outside Tel Aviv prior to their return. Four of them were joined by one relative each earlier this week. The trip was sponsored by the Israeli government, according to the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv.

Israeli captive Eli Sharabi, taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza.Credit: AP

On Saturday, Hamas-led militants released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages and Israel freed nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange of a ceasefire that has paused 16 months of war in Gaza.

The hostages’ condition and scenes of Hamas forcing them to speak in a handover ceremony sparked outrage in Israel and could increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from extending the ceasefire beyond its current six-week phase.

Netanyahu has signalled he would resume the war, even if that means leaving dozens of hostages in captivity. “[US] President [Donald] Trump completely agreed with me: We will do everything to return all the hostages, but Hamas will not be there,” Netanyahu said after the exchange.

Civilians Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34, were among about 250 people taken during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that sparked the war.

Friends and relatives of Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, who were taken as hostages by Hamas on October 7, 2023, react as they watch the live broadcast of their release from Gaza.Credit: AP

Israelis’ joy turned to shock and tears when they saw the trio’s emaciated state.

Later on Saturday, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom also appeared gaunt and weak. The Red Crescent said seven were taken to hospitals.

Hamas militants kidnapped 31 Thai nationals during the October assault, making them the largest group of foreigners held captive. Many of the Thai agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first.

Many Palestinians released during the ceasefire have appeared emaciated. They have alleged abuses in custody.

Freed Palestinian prisoners arrive in the Gaza Strip after being released from an Israeli prison on Saturday.Credit: AP

It was the fifth exchange since the ceasefire began on January 19. Twenty-one Israeli hostages have now been freed.

The Red Cross said it was “increasingly concerned about the conditions surrounding release operations” and urged all parties to ensure releases were dignified and private.

A dozen more Israeli hostages are yet to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire.

An Israeli Health Ministry representative, Dr Hagar Mizrahi, noted “severe malnutrition” and a “significant decrease” in body weight in the hostages released, as families again feared for the dozens of others still held in Gaza. Israel fears some hostages have died.

Freed Palestinian prisoners are greeted by a crowd as they arrive in the Gaza Strip after their release from an Israeli prison on Saturday.Credit: AP

“If anyone had any doubt about how urgent it is to bring everyone back ... today we got a wake-up call,” Moshe Or, the brother of hostage Avinatan Or, told a rally in Tel Aviv.

Gal Hirsch, Netanyahu’s co-ordinator for hostages, said “we will not remain silent about this. A message has been passed on to the mediators, and action will be taken accordingly”.

Hamas’ military wing said it had made efforts to preserve the hostages’ lives “despite the [Israeli] bombardment”.

The ceasefire’s first phase calls for the release of 33 Israeli hostages and nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners, the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. Israel says Hamas has confirmed eight of the 33 hostages are dead.

Trump’s stunning proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza could complicate talks over the second and more difficult phase, when Hamas is to release dozens more hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire. Trump’s proposal was welcomed by Israel but rejected by Palestinians and most of the international community.

Hamas may be reluctant to free more hostages if it believes the US and Israel are serious about depopulating Gaza, which rights groups say would violate international law.

Netanyahu on Saturday directed a delegation to go to Qatar to discuss the ceasefire agreement’s technical details, and Israel’s security cabinet will meet about negotiations on the truce’s second phase, according to an Israeli official.

Hostages learn of loved ones’ fate

Sharabi and Ben Ami were captured from Kibbutz Beeri, one of the farming communities hardest hit by the 2023 Hamas attack. Levy was taken from the Nova music festival.

They are only now learning the fate of some family members, according to Israeli media. Sharabi’s wife and two teenage daughters were killed, and his brother Yossi died in captivity. Levy’s wife was killed. Ben Ami’s wife, Raz, was released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023, when more than 100 hostages were freed.

“It’s over. It’s over,” Levy’s brother Michael said as they embraced.

“I left XXL, I came back medium,” Ben Ami said as he hugged his daughters. One of them, Ella, told Israeli Channel 12 that “it took me a moment to realise that this was my father”.

The Palestinian prisoners released include 18 serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis, 54 serving long-term sentences and 111 Palestinians from Gaza detained after the October 7 attack but not tried for any crime. All are men, aged between 20 and 61.

Virtually every Palestinian has a friend, relative or acquaintance who has been imprisoned.

Seven of the released prisoners were transferred to Egypt. Others were transferred to Palestinian custody in the occupied West Bank, where cheering supporters welcomed them. Some had been detained over offences ranging from bomb attacks to involvement in militant organisations.

They include Iyad Abu Shkheidem, 49, who was locked up for nearly 21 years over his involvement in Hamas attacks in crowded civilian areas that killed dozens of Israelis. That included a 2004 suicide bus bombing in Beersheba that killed 16 people.

“From October 7, 2023, to today we don’t know anything about what is happening outside the prison,” Abu Shkheidem said.

War could resume in March without a deal

The war – the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas – could resume in early March if no agreement is reached.

Israel says it is committed to destroying Hamas, which reasserted its rule over Gaza within hours of the ceasefire. Hamas says it won’t release remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal.

In the October 7 attack on Israel, about 1200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory war, more than half women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas for operating in residential neighbourhoods.

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