8:22 a.m. ET, October 9, 2023
12 Thai citizens killed as number of foreign dead and captured mounts
The Hamas attacks took place on Israeli soil, but they have impacted families around the world, with a growing list of foreign nationals killed or kidnapped.
Thailand announced that 12 nationals were confirmed dead and a further 11 taken hostage by Hamas, a spokesperson for Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, the largest loss of life by a foreign nation so far.
A further eight Thais have been hospitalized for their injuries, spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke said.
“We don’t want to release the names as a courtesy. We don’t want the relatives learn the news from the media before we have direct communication with them,” she added.
Why Israel: Israel has long been a major destination for Thai migrants, most of whom work agricultural jobs.
There are approximately 30,000 Thai workers in Israel, according to the Foreign Ministry, and over 1,000 have requested help to be evacuated.
The Thai government is prepared to evacuated its remaining citizens with planes from the Royal Thai Air Force on standby, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Toll will rise’: Among other foreign nationals known to have been killed so far are four Americans, two Ukrainians, 10 Nepali citizens, one French citizen, and one British citizen.
The Nepalis were killed when militants attacked Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel on Saturday, Nepali ambassador Kanta Rizal told CNN Sunday.
The deceased were agriculture students, who were studying and working under the “Learn and Earn” program of the Israeli government, Rizal said. The embassy is working to repatriate the bodies, she added.
Other foreigners missing: Three Brazilians, two Mexican nationals, a Nepali student and a British citizen are among those unaccounted for.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said Sunday the two Mexican nationals, a woman and a man, have “presumably” been taken hostage by Hamas.
The Brazilians and 26-year-old British citizen Jake Marlowe were all at the music festival near the Gaza border which was attacked on Saturday. Marlowe was working there as a security guard, his mother told the Israeli Embassy in the UK.
The German Foreign Ministry said it “has to assume” that there are German citizens amongst those kidnapped, a ministry source told CNN late Sunday.
One festival attendee with dual Israeli-German nationality, Shani Louk, was identified in social media videos stripped and motionless being paraded by fighters in Gaza.
