Thailand’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that Hamas was still holding 20 Thai citizens after freeing 10 from Gaza.
The freed hostages had been moved to Israel via Egypt and would spend 48 hours in the hospital before returning home, the ministry said.
“There are now an estimated 20 Thai nationals who remain abducted,” it said in a statement. “We sincerely hope the remaining hostages will be treated humanely and released safely as soon as possible.”
The only Thai woman known to be held by Hamas was among those released.
News agencies including Reuters cited Thai sources as saying that the deal was separate to the hostage release and pause in fighting agreed by Israel and Hamas.
Thailand’s foreign ministry thanked the governments of Egypt, Iran, Israel and Qatar, the International Committee of the Red Cross and others for the “immense efforts” that led to the release.
Australian PM welcomes release of first group of hostages
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the release of the first group of hostages, writing on X: “Australia welcomes the release of hostages and the pause in hostilities to allow humanitarian access to Gaza.”
Australian PM welcomes release of first group of hostages, calls for enduring peace
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the release of the first group of hostages, writing on X: “Australia welcomes the release of hostages and the pause in hostilities to allow humanitarian access to Gaza.”
Germany’s Scholz urges unconditional release of all hostages
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for the unconditional release of all hostages after expressing appreciation for the tireless diplomacy that it took to release the first group of hostages held by Hamas on Friday.
“It is good news that a first group of hostages has finally been released. We can hardly fathom what they and their families have had to go through over the last few weeks. (1/2),” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is the result of tireless diplomacy — our thanks goes to all those who have worked for this. Today can only be a start. Hamas must release all hostages unconditionally!” he said.
Of the 24 hostages who were released by Hamas on Friday, four were German-Israeli dual nationals.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock similarly said she was immensely relieved to hear of the news and expressed her thanks to Qatar, which helped broker the four-day truce under which 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be released.
Hamas militants broke into southern Israel on October 7 and killed some 1,200 people. Hamas also took some 240 hostages from Israel during the terror attacks, holding them captive in Gaza.
Qatar, a long-established mediator in the region, then reached out to the US to work on negotiations to release hostages.
After weeks of diplomacy by Qatar and Egypt, and the White House, a deal was agreed by the US, Israel and Hamas to secure the release of 50 hostages.
More than 150 people evacuated from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, WHO says
About 151 patients, relatives and health workers from the al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza were moved to hospitals in southern Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
“This was a high-risk mission, as intense fighting and shelling continued in proximity of Al-Shifa hospital,” the WHO wrote, saying patients were evacuated on November 22, that is before the temporary pause in fighting went into effect.
