The Foreign Ministry invites the Israeli Ambassador to Thailand to a meeting to express its dissatisfaction with her embassy’s campaign last week for the release of those, including Thai nationals, still held hostage by Hamas, stating that it could affect the ongoing negotiations, said Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara in Switzerland.

Israel’s Ambassador, Orna Sagiv, will meet the Thai Foreign Ministry’s permanent secretary, Sarun Charoensuwan, as Parnpree is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Israeli Embassy organised a campaign in Bangkok last Friday for the release of the hostages, being held by Hamas since the October 7 attack on Israel. The campaign, among other things, featured a caravan of tuk-tuks, bearing photos of the hostages.

Parnpree stated that the Israeli Embassy had not sought permission to organise the campaign.

“We are negotiating for the release of the remaining Thai hostages, therefore we did not want to create any problems or misunderstanding between the countries concerned by indicating that we support either country in conflict,” said Parnpree.

“Thailand has had a good relationship with all countries. For Israel, I believe that it has tried everything to make the world understand that it has not caused the conflicts. For Thailand, the most important thing for now is that the remaining Thai hostages return home safely. We did not want to use Thailand as a stage on which to cause any problems,” the minister said.

A total of 23 Thais was released by Hamas during a ceasefire in the conflict with Israel in November. It is reported that the remaining eight or nine Thai hostages are still in Hamas custody.