In separate deal, Hamas releases one Filipino, ten Thai citizens: Qatar

In a separate arrangement from the one between Israel and the Palestinian group that resulted in the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, Hamas has liberated ten Thai nationals and one Filipino person who were being imprisoned in Gaza.

The Thai and Filipino nationals were among the 24 prisoners that were freed, according to Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar's foreign ministry, which has been instrumental in mediating the situation.

He stated that the Thai nationals were with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and were "currently on their way out of the strip."

According to Thai officials, they were not covered by the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, and a separate agreement with Hamas was brokered by Qatar and Egypt.

According to the officials, the visit by Thailand's foreign minister to Qatar on October 31 opened up that discussion track and resulted in a specific agreement with Hamas to free the Thais. The largest single group of foreigners taken prisoner were Thai nationals.

However, earlier on X, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wrote that he had confirmation of the release of twelve individuals, and Thai embassy representatives were scheduled to pick them up.

According to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the group was taken to Rafah and then to the Karem Abu Salem border, which Israel refers to as Kerem Shalom. This crossing is located east of Rafah, which connects Egypt and the Gaza Strip. They were brought to the Hatzerim Air Force Base's processing centre and were scheduled to be sent to the Shamir Medical Centre, which is southeast of Tel Aviv.

“At this time, the gender and names of these Thais are not known,” the ministry statement said.

The ministry expressed gratitude to the ICRC, Israel, Iran, Malaysia, and Qatar in addition to Egypt and Qatar.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Iran and Thailand have cordial relations and notable representatives of Thailand's Muslim community have made unofficial visits to Tehran in order to press for the release of the detainees.

According to the report, Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara stated that he would receive "good news soon" from his Iranian colleague, who was acting as Thailand's go-between with Hamas, Al Jazeera reported.

It is estimated that during the October 7 attack, Hamas captured 240 persons, at least 23 of whom were Thai workers.

In the attack in southern Israel, thirty-two Thai labourers also lost their lives.

About 30,000 Thais were working primarily in Israel's agriculture industry at the time of the attack, according to the Thai ministry. Since then, about 8,600 Thai labourers have returned home of their own volition.

Thai labourers are given a minimum pay of 5,300 shekels ($2,000) per month under an agreement with Israel, which is six or seven times more than what they would be paid at home.

In coordination with Egypt and the United States, Qatar led weeks of intense negotiations that resulted in the release of fifty civilian hostages from Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a short ceasefire, and access to humanitarian aid.

On Friday, Hamas freed thirteen Israelis, including dual nationals.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, promised that Israel will continue its efforts to "eliminate" Hamas and that the agreement releasing the prisoners would not bring an end to the war.

At a solidarity event for the relatives of captives in Tel Aviv, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz reaffirmed that the army will return to fighting following the humanitarian pause.

“I want to assure the families of all the hostages: We will not stop. We will resume the efforts and the military action in Gaza to retrieve the hostages and restore deterrence,” Gantz said.

"One of the aims of the war and we are committed to achieving all the aims of the war," Netanyahu declared in his first remarks following the release of the Israeli captives.