Family members of Thai hostages released by Hamas visit them in Israeli hospital

JERUSALEM — Family members of Thai hostages released by Hamas terrorists last week after over 15 months of captivity in the Gaza Strip have visited them at the Israeli hospital where they are recuperating.

The Thai Embassy in Israel said the family members flew in Tuesday and met with the freed hostages at the Shamir Medical Center.

Hamas released five Thai hostages last week along with three Israeli captives who were freed as part of a ceasefire agreement in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas kidnapped 31 Thai nationals along with scores of Israelis and a few other foreigners during its Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on southern Israel.

Tens of thousands of Thai farmers work in Israel, where they can make higher wages than they can at home. Many lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli farming communities and towns that were overrun by Hamas-led terrorists.

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.

Turkey’s state-run news agency said the country will host 15 Palestinian prisoners who were released and deported as part of the ceasefire agreement.

The Turkish intelligence organization, MIT, is taking steps to “facilitate” the arrival of the 15 Palestinians from Egypt, the Anadolu Agency said Tuesday.

Arrangements were made to ensure the Palestinians can live “peacefully and securely” in Turkey, Anadolu said.

Hamas officials say they’ve begun talks with international mediators over the second phase of the ceasefire.

Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, a spokesperson for the terrorist group, said Tuesday that it had started “communications and negotiations” over the next phase, which is expected to include further hostage releases and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The group also claimed in a statement Tuesday that Israel had delayed and obstructed the flow of aid into the enclave.

Negotiations of the ceasefire’s second phase were set to begin Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday that he would send a delegation to Qatar this weekend to continue negotiations.

The Palestinian Authority says it has formed a committee to manage reconstruction and recovery efforts in the Gaza Strip.

It was unclear if the committee would be able to operate inside Gaza. Hamas, though weakened, still controls most of the territory, and Israel has ruled out any role for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in postwar Gaza.

The office of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that officials set up a working group “to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip.” The committee would work to provide basic services like water, electricity, health and education, specifically in the southern Gaza Strip, with the help of “various partners,” the statement said, without elaborating.

A Palestinian official, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the working group would be made up of technocrats, including independent figures from Gaza.

Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, held a funeral Tuesday for Ghazi Abu Tamaa, its weapons and combat services commander who was killed during the war in Gaza.

The group’s spokesperson, Abu Obeida, confirmed Abu Tamaa’s death as well as the death of senior leader Mohammed Deif in a video statement Thursday. The spokesperson didn’t provide details about their deaths.

The Israeli military had previously said that Abu Tamaa was killed in an airstrike in March of last year along with Marwan Issa, al-Qassam’s deputy leader.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says two soldiers were killed and eight wounded in a shooting attack on an army post in the West Bank.

The military had reported the attack earlier Tuesday, saying the shooter was killed without immediately providing details on its own casualties.

Israel has been carrying out a major military operation in the city of Jenin, near to where the attack took place. The military says it is trying to clamp down on Palestinian terrorists.

Elsewhere, Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting the Lebanese army during a visit to Beirut on Tuesday.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani’s remarks came after meeting Lebanon’s president, former army commander Joseph Aoun, whose election in January ended a two-year presidential vacuum.

Qatar has been a source of support for Lebanon’s military in recent years, particularly as the army struggled with unpaid salaries amid the country’s ongoing economic crisis.

“We look forward to working on joint projects between the two countries after forming the government,” Thani, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, said in a news conference alongside his Lebanese counterpart. “Our visit today is a support visit from the State of Qatar, which always stands by Lebanon and its people.”