Interior Minister Moshe Arbel met with Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa on Sunday following the release of five Thai nationals from captivity in Gaza after being kidnapped on October 7. In the meeting, Arbel announced that the five released would be granted Israeli resident status as a gesture, Israeli media reported.
Sangiampongsa and Arbel also discussed expanding the agreement between the two nations into various other employment sectors within Israel beyond home care and agriculture.
Interior Minister Arbel responded to the strategic move: "Hamas is a proxy of Iran. Its entire goal is to harm life and freedom against Jews and non-Jews alike. We need to join hands together and fight this evil. Today, we grant residency to Thai workers, and this is the least possible for those who have decided to link their fate with the State of Israel."
The gesture was opposed by anti-immigration activists, calling it a "nail in the coffin" for Israel's internal affairs.
Said activists claimed that offering residency to the released captives would force them to stay in Israel rather than return to "paradise" at home. According to Thai Ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya, foreign workers from Thailand in Israel are their family's "primary breadwinners."
משה ארבל,יש דרכים רבות ושונות לחבק ולאהוב.לא חייבים לקחת פטיש ולנעוץ עוד מסמר בבית הלאומי.ולמה אתה מתעקש להחזיק אותם בכוח באזור מלחמה כאשר הם חופשיים סוף סוף לחזור לגן עדן שמחכה להם בבית?@misrad_hapnim https://t.co/tZ8ZlXRixr pic.twitter.com/P5HiaOMgV4
— sheffi paz • שפי פז (@sheffipaz) February 2, 2025
While the Thai foreign minister is in Israel, an Israeli delegation has traveled to Bangkok, Israeli media reported.
Who are the Thai nationals expected to receive residency?
Thenna Pongsak, 36, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Sriaoun Watchara, 33, Seathao Bannawat, 27, and Rumnao Surasak, 32 are the Thai nationals expected to receive residency. At least one living Thai hostage, Pinta Nattapong, 35, remains in captivity.
The bodies of two remaining Thai citizens who were killed on October 7 remain in the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Rintalak Suttisak, 43, and Sahaot Banawat, 30, were both murdered and kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri.
Hamas and PIJ are still holding 24-year-old Nepalese foreign national Joshi Bipin, as well as the body of Tanzanian national Joshua Luito Mollel.
At this time, The Post is unable to confirm if the same gesture will be extended to the previous 23 Thai nationals released from Gaza captivity in November 2023.