Following the release of 23 other Thai nationals in late November as part of a week-long truce agreement, the two were thought to have been among eight Thai nationals held captive by Hamas in Gaza. On October 7, of last year, there was a surprise attack on southern Israel, during which the Thai workers were held prisoner.
“During this trying time, we offer our sincere condolences to the deceased’s family and friends. We are all terribly saddened by their loss, not just those of us who knew and loved them, the embassy said in a statement.
“We are in solidarity with the Thai community during this time of grief. The embassy declared, “It is our moral duty to release all 132 captives detained by Hamas in Gaza as quickly as possible.
The statement claimed that Hamas was still holding the bodies of the two Thai laborers, Sonthaya Oakkharasri and Sudthisak Rinthalak, who worked at Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel.
The two Thai hostages were killed during the October 7 massacre, and their bodies were transported to Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed on Thursday.
A story in The Times of Israel stated that the farm the two worked is roughly four kilometers from the Gaza border.
On the eve of Hamas’s onslaught, some 30,000 Thai nationals were employed in Israel, the majority of them as field workers in agricultural districts close to the Gaza border.
The widow of Tianchai Yotthongdee, one of the 39 Thai farm laborers slain in the October 7 Hamas attack, Narisara Malee, was invited by the Israeli Embassy on Monday to Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and terrorist victims. Orna Sagiv, the Israeli ambassador to Thailand, presided over the ceremony.
The widow talked about her life experiences and emotions, particularly the blow of losing her family’s pillar of support. According to a Facebook post by the embassy, she also thanked the Israeli and Thai governments for helping the grieving families.
