BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said 12 Thai hostages kidnapped by Palestinian militants during Hamas’s October 7 raids into Israel were released on Friday, hours after a truce in the Israel-Hamas war began.
“It has been confirmed by the security side and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that 12 Thai hostages are already released,” he posted on X.
“Embassy officials are on their way to pick them up in another hour. Their names and details should be known. Please stay tuned.”
A total of 25 Thai nationals were among the estimated 240 people taken hostage by gunmen during last month’s wave of cross-border raids into Israel.
In the worst attack in Israel’s history, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel has retaliated with a massive campaign of air, artillery and naval strikes alongside a ground offensive into Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
The Hamas government says the war has killed around 15,000 people, thousands of them children.
On Friday, a truce began following weeks of negotiations brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Under the agreement, a four-day pause in the fighting was set to see at least 50 hostages released from Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Two Hamas sources told AFP on Friday that some of the hostages seized in the raids were on Friday handed over to the Red Cross for return to Israel, via Egypt.
Shortly after the Thai prime minister posted on X, a source close to Hamas confirmed to AFP that some Thai hostages had been freed, in addition to hostages released under the deal with Israel.
“Hamas made a gesture to also release some Thai foreigners,” the source close to the Islamist movement said.
Last week, a member of Thailand’s hostage release negotiation team said his government had been given assurances by Hamas that the kingdom’s nationals held hostage by the armed group were “safe.”
Earlier this month, the Thai foreign minister traveled to Qatar to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart over the Thai nationals’ release.
A source with knowledge of the truce negotiations told AFP “the release of 12 Thai citizens held hostage in Gaza comes following the Thai foreign minister’s visit to Qatar and mediation efforts by the Qataris and Egyptians.”
About 30,000 Thais were working in Israel, mostly in the agriculture sector, at the time of the October 7 attacks, according to the kingdom’s labor ministry.
Thirty-nine Thai citizens have been killed and 19 wounded in the war, with the kingdom evacuating more than 8,500 of its people, according to Bangkok’s foreign ministry.
![]()
![]()
“Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am (0400 GMT),” the force said.
The graffiti, which workers were cleaning early Friday, called the wartime leader a “Zionist war criminal.”
The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office called the damage “completely abhorrent” and said it was “glad” police had made an arrest.
“Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said. “This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”
- Pre-recorded message -
A Dutch activist, naming himself as Olax Outis, claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.
“If you see this message that peaceful protest has begun... it’s a reasonable assumption that I’m currently in a jail, somewhere in London,” the pre-recorded message said.
Outis said he was a member of Dutch group “Free the Filton 24 NL,” a group supporting the 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a break-in at a UK factory belonging to Israeli defense firm Elbit in 2024.
The group posted a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in overalls, with “I support Palestine Action” written on the back, painting the statue.
Other slogans painted onto the statue included “globalize the intifada.”
In December, police said people chanting this phrase would be arrested as part of efforts to counter antisemitism and incitement to violence through slogans.
The police stance followed a deadly October attack on a synagogue in the English city of Manchester, and a December shooting at a Jewish festival at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney in which 15 people were killed.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
The 3.6 meter (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalized a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.
Thai PM says 12 Thai hostages released by Hamas
Short Url
https://arab.news/vqgtn
Thai PM says 12 Thai hostages released by Hamas
- “It has been confirmed by the security side and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that 12 Thai hostages are already released,” he posted on X
- A total of 25 Thai nationals were among the estimated 240 people taken hostage
UK police arrest man after Churchill statue sprayed with graffiti
- The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue
- The man detained was also held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action
LONDON: A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, UK police said Friday, after pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on a Winston Churchill statue in central London.
The iconic monument to the World War II British prime minister in Parliament Square “was graffitied with red paint” overnight, the Metropolitan Police said on X.
“Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am (0400 GMT),” the force said.
The graffiti, which workers were cleaning early Friday, called the wartime leader a “Zionist war criminal.”
The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue.
The man detained was also held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed organization under the Terrorism Act, police added.
The Greater London Authority condemned the “vandalism” and said work was underway to remove the graffiti “as quickly as possible.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office called the damage “completely abhorrent” and said it was “glad” police had made an arrest.
“Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said. “This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”
- Pre-recorded message -
A Dutch activist, naming himself as Olax Outis, claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.
“If you see this message that peaceful protest has begun... it’s a reasonable assumption that I’m currently in a jail, somewhere in London,” the pre-recorded message said.
Outis said he was a member of Dutch group “Free the Filton 24 NL,” a group supporting the 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a break-in at a UK factory belonging to Israeli defense firm Elbit in 2024.
The group posted a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in overalls, with “I support Palestine Action” written on the back, painting the statue.
Other slogans painted onto the statue included “globalize the intifada.”
In December, police said people chanting this phrase would be arrested as part of efforts to counter antisemitism and incitement to violence through slogans.
The police stance followed a deadly October attack on a synagogue in the English city of Manchester, and a December shooting at a Jewish festival at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney in which 15 people were killed.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
The 3.6 meter (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalized a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.