Romi, Emily and Doron have not yet been brought home. They are now in the process of of coming home and everyone has their eyes glued to the televisions. The Red Cross Vehicles are on the way to the point given to them by the Hamas terrorist where they will receive the 3 young women who have been held in horrendous captivity for 471 days. I am sending out the update now as everyone who cares is also glued to the TV and will see live what is happening. Tomorrow's update will show 94 hostages still in Gaza and we cannot rest until the last hostage is brought home
I wrote this 3 weeks ago and it is so important to remember all of this especially today with the first 3 hostages coming home in this new deal. Today is a day filled with tension, joy, pain, fear by most everyone in the country. We need every single hostage back home as soon as possible and we cannot put a price on this.
For almost 15 months, Israel is a country in the midst of ongoing trauma without having the opportunity to begin a mourning phase for the 1800 lives lost on October 7 until today.
From going from a country united and everyone pitching in as much as they can to help everyone else (the survivors of October 7, the evacuees from the south and the north, the soldiers called up and volunteering and the list goes on), our self interested politicians, with Netanyahu being the main player, worked hard to create divides among us again. They took something so holy, so righteous, so Jewish, the plight of the hostages and turned it political in order to take the focus of years of abandonment and bad dangerous decision making of Netanyahu off of him. They have partially succeeded but the vast majority of the population refuses to accept this and are pushing for a deal to return the hostages even with it meaning that we have to end the war in Gaza.
The only joy this country has known in the last almost 15 months was in November 2023 when a deal was made and hostages were coming home, not the killing of Sinwar, or Nasrallah or Haniya or winning battles or Assad's regime downfall. Yes, all of these actions are good but nothing has impacted the people as much as being glued to our televisions watching the hostages being released by the terrorists and getting into the Red Cross vehicles. We followed every report listening to when the hostages were transferred to the IDF and then they crossed the border into Israel, reaching an army base and then transferred to the hospital. We watched the families arrive to the hospitals and their greetings with the newly released hostages. I can't imagine that there was a single household in Israel with dry eyes. Each of those few days were the most joyful days that we experienced since October 7 and until today. Nothing could compare. It was the first step towards our healing but then the wounds were ripped open when Netanyahu decided that Hamas had violated the agreement. Instead of bringing home as many hostages as possible, Netanyahu was itching to go back to a full war being pushed by his extremist ministers. As a result, we, the people of Israel were deprived of continuous joy of more hostages released, till the last of them, returning home and the real chance to begin to heal and rebuild a broken nation.
Now, 13 months after those few days of joy, we are pleading that a deal be made, that the hostages be brought home. Not in phases but as a single deal to bring them all home and end the war which will also bring home the reservists and end the cycle of killing on both sides. No price is too high to bring the hostages home. It is not only a matter of the 100 hostages left in Gaza. It is a matter of the survival of our country. If we abandon our people as this government has done for the last 15 months, Israel does not have a right to exist. The basic tenets of our existence and survival are the mutual guarantee that we are all responsible for each other, that the redemption of prisoners/hostages is the most important Mitzvah (deed) in Judaism, that we don't abandon our citizens. We, as a country, cannot get past this trauma and begin our healing until all the hostages are brought home. We cannot begin the real mourning for all those we have lost until they are brought home and the war ends. We cannot put back the pieces of the broken covenant between the government and the people of being and feeling safe and secure in our homes and our land until the hostages are brought home. We cannot send our sons and daughters to be soldiers in our people's army without the serious doubts and fears that our government will abandon them until we bring our hostages home. And we cannot begin to rebuild our society, the bridge the divides, to break down the divisions that our present politicians have selfishly pushed for years, until we bring the hostages home.
We cannot have joy back in our lives, real joy as a nation, as a people, as Israelis until we bring our hostages home. This is not a political issue. It is also not solely a moral issue. It is an issue of who we are, what we are, and most importantly, who we want to be and what we want to be. Until the hostages are home, the distance between who we are and who we want to be is insurmountable.
BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!!!
IDF says doesn’t know when 3 hostages will be released today, but is ready to receive them
The military does not know yet when hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher will be released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip today, but says it is already prepared to receive them.
Hamas is expected to hand over the three female hostages to the Red Cross, which will then hand them over to IDF special forces inside the Gaza Strip.
From there, the hostages will be taken to one of three army facilities established near the border — one near Re’im, one near Kerem Shalom, and one near Erez — for an initial checkup, and then to a hospital to meet with their families.
The military believes the three hostages will be released today from central Gaza, meaning they will be taken to the Re’im facility, though nothing is certain.
The IDF has closed off routes in the Gaza border area this morning to protect the hostages’ privacy during the release.
Relatives of 3 hostages set to be released express joy: Her mom just wants to hug her
From left: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher (Courtesy)
Relatives of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher — the three Israeli hostages set to be released later today — express their joy that their loved ones are coming home, but say there’s a “long road ahead.”
Eitan Gonen tells the Kan public broadcaster that while Israeli officials have not provided information on his daughter’s condition, “Romi is finally coming home, alive, there is nothing more joyful than that.”
A source close to the Damari family tells the BBC that it has been a “torturous 471 days but a particularly torturous 24 hours.”
“All Emily’s mum Mandy wants to do is hug Emily. But she won’t believe it until she sees it,” the source tells the British broadcaster.
“Until she’s out and Mandy can actually see that she’s out. It hasn’t happened until it happens. It’s not done until it’s done. And there’s a long road ahead,” the source says.
Michal Mayo, a cousin of Doron Steinbrecher, breaks down in tears during an interview with the Kan public broadcaster as the host tells her that the release of Doron later in the day has been made public.
“How good that she is coming home,” Mayo says.
Body of Oron Shaul, killed and captured by Hamas in 2014, recovered from Gaza
Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul (Courtesy)
In a recent clandestine operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops recovered the body of soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by Hamas in 2014, the military announces.
The operation to recover the body was carried out jointly by the IDF and the Shin Bet security agency, with several special forces units including the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit and another elite force in the Military Intelligence Directorate.
The IDF does not detail when the operation happened, or in which part of Gaza the body was found.
Shaul’s body was brought back to Israel and taken to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute where it was identified. His family was then informed.
On July 20, 2014, amid the 2014 Gaza War, troops of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion entered Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood in an M-113 armored personnel carrier. The APC got stuck in one of the neighborhood’s narrow streets, and during attempts to extract it, it came under attack by Hamas operatives launching anti-tank missiles.
Seven soldiers were killed in the incident, including Shaul, whose body was dragged away from the scene by Hamas operatives.
Hostage families call for Netanyahu to publicly declare deal will be fully implemented
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza deliver their weekly statement to the press outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, with the brother of captive Itzik Elgarat urging US President-elect Donald Trump to demand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly declare the multiphase hostage-ceasefire deal be fully implemented.
“We are asking you to stand on guard. Ensure the deal is implemented in full and doesn’t come apart. Demand Netanyahu declare that the war is over,” says Danny Elgarat.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was abducted by Hamas during the terror group’s October 2023 onslaught, accuses “The extremists in the government” of working to prevent the agreement’s full implementation and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of making promises to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, “that contradict the commitment to end the war and endanger the agreement.”
She also calls on Netanyahu to publicly announce that the war is over and the terms of the deal will be fully carried out.
Bipin, Joshua, Pongsak: The foreign nationals still held captive by Hamas
10 foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, excluded from hostage deal’s first phase—8 Thai, 2 from Nepal and Tanzania; among them: student in Israel for weeks, father supporting his child and man who heroically shielded others under fire Of the 98 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, 10 are foreign nationals abducted from their workplaces in southern Israel’s kibbutzim.
Eight are Thai citizens who came to Israel to support their families, while the others include one Nepali student and one Tanzanian student. These foreign hostages are not included in the first stage of the planned deal, which is set to
begin next week and involves the release of 33 captives.
Foreign national abducted on October 7, from top left: Pongsak Tanna, Sattin Suwankham, Watchara Sriaoun, Sontha Oakkharasri, Bipin Joshi, Surasak Lamnau, Joshua Loito Mollel, Sontha Oakkharasri, Pinta Natthaphong and Bhanawat Saitieo
So far, 23 Thai hostages have been freed, thanks to negotiations between Thailand and Arab and Muslim nations, including Hamas' main backer, Iran. These releases occurred outside of Israel’s hostage deal. However, 49 Thai nationals were killed during the October 7 attack, and nearly 30,000 Thais were working in Israeli agriculture before the war.
In Kibbutz Nir Oz alone, 11 Thai workers were murdered, five were abducted and two were freed in an earlier deal. After the massacre, Kibbutz Chair Osnat Perry sent a letter in Thai to the Thai people, their prime minister Srettha Thavisin and Thai Ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya, expressing deep regret over the harm to innocent Thai citizens. She emphasized efforts to secure the safe return of all hostages.
Among those abducted was Sattin Suwankham, 34, who was seriously wounded during his capture. Suwankham’s mother learned of his kidnapping from a video of the abduction uploaded to Facebook.
The other Thai hostages are Surasak Lamnau, 30, Pongsak Tanna, 35, Bhanawat Saitieo, who was shot in the leg on October 7, Pinta Natthaphong, 35, and Watchara Sriaoun, 32.
Two other Thai workers—Sontha Oakkharasri, 32, and Rinthalak Sudthisak, 43—were murdered in the plantations of Kibbutz Be’eri on the day of the massacre and their bodies are held in the Gaza Strip.
According to the website Untold, Not Forgotten, Pongpak, originally from Buriram Province in Thailand, worked in Israel for just over six years to support his 15-year-old daughter.
In addition to the Thai hostages, Nepali student Bipin Joshi, 23, and Tanzanian student Joshua Loitu Mollel, 22, are also held captive. Both came to Israel to study agriculture. Joshi and his Nepali peers arrived just three weeks before October 7 and were living in Kibbutz Alumim, where they were set to specialize in citrus farming. On the morning of the attack, they awoke to the sound of rockets.
According to The Wall Street Journal, after hearing the rockets and gunfire, Joshi realized the attack was different from the usual alarms he had experienced. As rockets fell, the Nepali and Thai residents scattered to various hiding places. One foreign worker near Joshi sought refuge above a refrigerator, writing to his wife, "I won’t be coming home." Others hid under wooden tables in a kitchen near crates of onions.
Nepalese student Bipin Joshi hiding with Nepalese peers in bomb shelter before being abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7
In a bomb shelter where 17 Nepali workers huddled shoulder-to-shoulder, they took a selfie, with Joshi smiling in the foreground. As gunfire approached, panic ensued. When Hamas terrorists entered the shelter, they shot dead a student filming on his phone and another who shouted, "We are Nepali." Two grenades were thrown into the room; Joshi managed to grab one and throw it away but could not reach the second grenade, which exploded, leaving several injured and unconscious.
After the attackers moved on, Israeli police called for survivors to head to a nearby kitchen. While some Nepali and Thai workers fled to new hiding spots, Joshi helped gather the injured to assist them. He quickly messaged his cousin, writing in English: "If something happens to me, you’ll have to take care of the family. Stay strong and always look to the future."
A young terrorist armed with a rifle later burst into the area and forced Joshi and three Thai workers toward the door. Another terrorist recorded the abduction on his phone—the last footage of Joshi seen to date. His family and the Nepali government are tirelessly campaigning to raise awareness of his captivity and secure his release.
On October 7, 10 Nepali students were killed in the attacks. Prof. Chaim Shaked, president of Hemdat College of Education in Sdot Negev, where they studied, traveled to Nepal to visit the victims' families.
Then-foreign minister Eli Cohen hosts father and uncle of Joshua Mollel at Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, December 2023
(Photo: Foreign Ministry)
Mollel, an agronomy student from Tanzania, was confirmed dead several weeks after the attack, with his body taken to Gaza. Since then, his father, Loitu, has led an international campaign to recover his remains, even traveling to Israel.
He met with then-foreign minister Eli Cohen, who presented the family with a certificate for 18 trees planted in Mollel's name in partnership with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael. Another Tanzanian, Mollel’s roommate Clemence Felix Mtenga, was also killed during the attacks. link
Gaza and the South
About 200 aid delivery trucks, including 20 carrying fuel, begin arriving at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom Crossing ahead of entry into the Gaza Strip, two Egyptian sources tell Reuters.
The aid trucks are using the Kerem Shalom entry point pending completion of maintenance and repair work at the Rafah border crossing into southern Gaza from Egypt, the sources say.
The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced by the war, many more than once.
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect this morning after a nearly three-hour delay when Hamas initially didn’t send the names of the three hostages set to be released after 15 months of captivity in Gaza later today.
IDF warns Gazans not to approach areas where troops remain when ceasefire begins
The IDF has published a warning to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip not to approach areas where the military will be deployed at the start of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, set to begin at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.
“According to the agreement, IDF troops will remain deployed in specific areas in the Gaza Strip. Do not approach IDF troops in the area until further notice. Approaching the forces exposes you to danger,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says on X.
“Movement from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip or toward the Netzarim Corridor remains dangerous in light of IDF activity in the area. Once such movement is permitted, a statement and instructions will be issued regarding safe methods of movement. Residents are warned against approaching IDF troops in general and in the Netzarim Corridor area in particular,” Adraee says.
Under the agreement, on the seventh day of the ceasefire, Gazans will be allowed to return on foot to northern Gaza while unarmed, but without any inspection, via the coastal road.
On day 22, displaced unarmed Palestinians will be allowed to return to north Gaza on foot via the Salah a-Din road, also without inspection.
Also on day seven of the ceasefire, vehicles will be allowed to return to northern Gaza, but they will be required to undergo an inspection by a private company to be determined by the mediators and Israel.
Adraee also warns Palestinians against approaching the Rafah Crossing on the Egypt border and the Philadelphi Corridor area, where troops will remain deployed during the entire first stage of the ceasefire.
“In the maritime area, along the entire Strip, there is a great risk of fishing, swimming and diving and we warn against entering the sea in the coming days,” he says.
“It is forbidden to approach Israeli territory and the buffer zone. Approaching the buffer zone is extremely dangerous,” Adraee adds, referring to a zone along the entire border with Israel where troops will be deployed.
IDF says fighter jets carrying out wave of airstrikes in Gaza Strip
The IDF says fighter jets are carrying out a wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Further details will be provided later, the military adds.
Israel has said that the ceasefire that was supposed to begin earlier this morning has not yet taken effect because Hamas has failed to provide the names of hostages to be released today, as agreed.
The Hamas-run civil defense agency says eight Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire was supposed to take effect this morning.
Israel has said that the ceasefire has not yet taken effect as Hamas has failed to provide the names of hostages to be released today, as agreed.
Armed Hamas operatives parade in Gaza’s Rafah after ceasefire was supposed to take effect
Armed Hamas operatives parade in southern Gaza's Rafah after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect on January 19, 2025 (Screen grab/Al-Jazeera)
Armed Hamas operatives are seen parading in southern Gaza’s Rafah a short while ago, after the ceasefire with Israel was supposed to take effect, footage broadcast by Al Jazeera shows. videoThe fact that Hamas still rules Gaza and still can parade around freely in a show of strength and a type of victory is all on Netanyahu. Hamas as an ideology cannot be defeated. As an organization of terror and governing in Gaza can only be defeated with the placement of an alternative governing body which should be the Palestinian Authority backed up with military support of Egypt and Gulf countries to fight and defeat Hamas. Most Gazans want to be done with Hamas but without an alternative, they are terrified to raise their voices against them. Netanyahu has refused throughout to allow the PA come in and take over governance. He has attempted other solutions and everyone of them failed and Hamas is still there. His stubbornness was one of the factors that brought us October 7 and is the major factor that Hamas is still the governing force in Gaza.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
IDF bolsters forces in West Bank as Palestinian prisoners to return there under hostage deal
The IDF is bolstering its troops in the West Bank with seven additional companies, according to a military source, ahead of the hostage deal with Hamas during which Israel will release Palestinian prisoners, many of them to the West Bank.
The military says IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held an assessment this evening focusing on the army’s preparations in the West Bank and southern Israel.
Halevi instructed to bolster troops in the West Bank, with an emphasis on “counter-terrorism efforts through offensive operations and enhanced defensive measures in communities and on main routes, particularly concerning the release of prisoners.”
Halevi also “approved the Southern Command’s defensive plans in accordance with the agreements determined by the political echelon.”
Politics and the War (general news)
Otzma Yehudit to leave coalition on Sunday in protest of hostage-ceasefire deal Members of the Otzma Yehudit party will submit their letters of resignation from the government on Sunday morning to protest its acceptance of the hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas. linkThis is perhaps the second best thing to come from this hostage deal. This party should not only be out of the government, they should be outlawed exactly as its predecessor, the Kach Party by Meir Kahana was outlawed as a racist party. Otzma Yehudit is no less racist but times have changed and the indicted Prime Minister would do anything to stay prime minister and so, included and encouraged voters to vote for this vile pile of crap, and in doing so, normalized what should never be normalized. Let us hope that this party and its racist messianic members will never be in any position of power ever again.
The Region and the World
Personal Stories
John Aslanov, 70: Avid fisherman ‘rich in life experience’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Zikim Beach on October 7
John Aslanov (Courtesy)
John Aslanov, 70, from Ashdod, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the attack on Zikim Beach on October 7.
John, Robert, Yuri and Svetlana were among the 20 people slain by Hamas along the beach that morning, in one of the first places targeted by the terrorists. Five days later, John’s family was informed that he had been killed. A week later, after completing the shiva mourning period, they were told that Robert was also found dead.
John was buried in Ashdod on October 12. He is survived by his wife, Inna, their three children, Sergio, Stas and Shoshi, and several grandchildren.
Born in Russia, John had two older sisters and two younger sisters. He and Inna wed in the city of Pyatigorsk on October 7, 1977 and they had three children. John was an industrial engineer by training.
In the 1990s, they decided to move to Israel, living first for a few years in Ramat Gan before settling in Ashdod. Inna’s brother, Robert – a childhood friend of John’s – decided to move to Israel in 2016 and settle nearby.
His daughter, Shoshi, told the Davar news outlet that “my father really loved nature. As a child he would take me to pick fruits and vegetables, I would bring friends with me. I’d say ‘OK, who wants to come with me today to collect mushrooms in the forest.’ Our shared moments together were the perfect entertainment,” she said, recalling family camping and fishing trips.
“He knew the season of every fruit, when was the right time to harvest pomegranates or clementines, and he would pick in the orchards near the house, organize them in bags and give them out to all the kids.”
Shoshi said her father “was always there for me. A very simple guy, modest, but rich in life experience, knowledge and education. He demanded that we be good to others, find shared dialogue, to know how to find the good in everyone.”
Her father “pushed us to advance in life, to succeed, to go study, not to be average. I never once saw him complain, his motto was that we need to be strong, life is no picnic and we have to be strong.”
Returning to Zikim Beach nine months after his father was killed, John’s son, Sergio, told the Kan public broadcaster that “Dad died in the place he loved most, the sea… I’d give everything just to sit with him for a few minutes, just to show him the fish that I caught. But I’m sure he sees it.”
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
We Will Fire Him!
Anat Maor
Former Knesset Member, PhD in Public Policy, Tel Aviv University.
In 2022, when the Prime Minister was sworn in, he said: “I vow to faithfully fulfill my role as Prime Minister...”.
To Israel’s misfortune, after betraying the country’s security by arming Hamas with Qatar's massive funds, and after abandoning Israeli citizens in the south, leaving them in the clutches of Hamas, Netanyahu himself is personally responsible for forsaking the hostages, leaving them to die at the hands of murderous members of Hamas, while all this time he focuses solely on his personal political survival.
Since that horrific day when the hostages were abducted, Netanyahu has presented a false duality, stating that it is either “the return of the hostages” or “the dismantling of Hamas”. This is a dismal manipulation aimed solely at keeping him in power! He made sure that the hostages remained in captivity, and that the war raged on, just so that the public and the Knesset would be too busy and preoccupied to impeach him or launch a State Commission of Inquiry.
A rational and humane analysis of the situation would suggest that it was both possible and necessary to secure the return of the hostages immediately following their ruthless and terrifying abduction, prior to any ground operation in Gaza. The next opportunity to bring them home was during the negotiations regarding humanitarian aid for Gaza. The aid should have been allowed, as is required by international law, but it should have been carried out under the condition that all hostages be released and brought back home! Israel could have been clever, and could have let in one aid truck, in exchange for one returned hostage, unharmed, alive.
Netanyahu’s continuous abandonment of the hostages is appalling for two additional reasons:
Netanyahu boasted about dismantling Hamas, yet delayed the Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza that would have led to victory. This, again, was based on that same motive: political survival at all costs. As he touted the “obliteration of Hamas”, he in fact solidified Hamas’ rule by refusing to discuss an alternate government comprised of Arab countries - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and moderate Palestinian leaders who would be appropriately trained for the role - with the support of the United States and under its patronage. Thus, Netanyahu has breached the trust of the hostages and the citizens of Israel’s south. He is not “Mr. Security” but rather the one responsible for the failure, meaning the continued rule of Hamas in Gaza.
Further depravity is evident in the manner in which Netanyahu conducted these negotiations. Two former ministers who were members of the War Cabinet - high-ranking generals and experts - have attested to numerous instances in which Netanyahu went against the consensus regarding negotiation strategies, caving in to the most extreme ministers in his government, and revoking agreed-upon guidelines. When he claims to have approved plans, he is lying. He only gave his approval after forcing delays - in other words, approval would be granted long after the offer had expired, thus ensuring that attempts to strike a deal would be successfully thwarted.
Hence, for the hostages to be released and returned, it is mandatory, as some of the hostage families have been saying now for months, to remove this heartless and reckless Prime Minister from power. We cannot allow this government and this Knesset to normalize the madness into which they have plunged us. We need no further proof that Netanyahu will not follow the path of Menachem Begin and Golda Meir, who resigned following the wars for which they were responsible. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all Knesset Members, from the political Right, Center, and Left, to immediately terminate Netanyahu’s delusional reign. That is the only way to secure the return of our loved ones from captivity.
Dear hostage families, we embrace and strengthen you, as we all urge the hostages’ return.
Acronyms and Glossary
COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0 Twitter - @LonnyB58
Foreign national abducted on October 7, from top left: Pongsak Tanna, Sattin Suwankham, Watchara Sriaoun, Sontha Oakkharasri, Bipin Joshi, Surasak Lamnau, Joshua Loito Mollel, Sontha Oakkharasri, Pinta Natthaphong and Bhanawat Saitieo
So far, 23 Thai hostages have been freed, thanks to negotiations between Thailand and Arab and Muslim nations, including Hamas' main backer, Iran. These releases occurred outside of Israel’s hostage deal. However, 49 Thai nationals were killed during the October 7 attack, and nearly 30,000 Thais were working in Israeli agriculture before the war.In Kibbutz Nir Oz alone, 11 Thai workers were murdered, five were abducted and two were freed in an earlier deal. After the massacre, Kibbutz Chair Osnat Perry sent a letter in Thai to the Thai people, their prime minister Srettha Thavisin and Thai Ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya, expressing deep regret over the harm to innocent Thai citizens. She emphasized efforts to secure the safe return of all hostages.
Among those abducted was Sattin Suwankham, 34, who was seriously wounded during his capture. Suwankham’s mother learned of his kidnapping from a video of the abduction uploaded to Facebook.
The other Thai hostages are Surasak Lamnau, 30, Pongsak Tanna, 35, Bhanawat Saitieo, who was shot in the leg on October 7, Pinta Natthaphong, 35, and Watchara Sriaoun, 32.
Two other Thai workers—Sontha Oakkharasri, 32, and Rinthalak Sudthisak, 43—were murdered in the plantations of Kibbutz Be’eri on the day of the massacre and their bodies are held in the Gaza Strip.According to the website Untold, Not Forgotten, Pongpak, originally from Buriram Province in Thailand, worked in Israel for just over six years to support his 15-year-old daughter.In addition to the Thai hostages, Nepali student Bipin Joshi, 23, and Tanzanian student Joshua Loitu Mollel, 22, are also held captive. Both came to Israel to study agriculture. Joshi and his Nepali peers arrived just three weeks before October 7 and were living in Kibbutz Alumim, where they were set to specialize in citrus farming. On the morning of the attack, they awoke to the sound of rockets.According to The Wall Street Journal, after hearing the rockets and gunfire, Joshi realized the attack was different from the usual alarms he had experienced. As rockets fell, the Nepali and Thai residents scattered to various hiding places. One foreign worker near Joshi sought refuge above a refrigerator, writing to his wife, "I won’t be coming home." Others hid under wooden tables in a kitchen near crates of onions.
Nepalese student Bipin Joshi hiding with Nepalese peers in bomb shelter before being abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7 
Then-foreign minister Eli Cohen hosts father and uncle of Joshua Mollel at Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, December 2023 (Photo: Foreign Ministry)
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