The Israeli ambassador to Thailand has assured Thailand that the Israeli government is doing everything it can to help Thai workers being detained by the Hamas militants as Israel continues to bombard areas in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to Thai PBS in an interview on Monday, Ambassador Orna Sagiv also said Israel authorities are also doing their best to provide medical treatment to Thai and other nationalities wounded in the fighting which began on Saturday morning with waves of attacks in multiple locations in Israel by the Hamas.
The Thai Foreign Ministry confirmed that 12 Thais were killed in the fightings while 11 others have been kidnapped. Hamas has claimed to be holding more than 130 people hostage.
While admitting that Israeli authorities don’t have immediate information as to the fate the hostages, she said they will do their utmost to secure their release.
“What I can say is that we treat all the foreigners who got hurt or being kept by Hamas like we treat the Israelis,” she said.
However, she said the responsibility in ensuring that these hostages are safe rests with Hamas. “They should be held responsible and then they should supply answers to not only Israel but to the international community,” she said.
The ambassador also said the Israeli government is ready to facilitate flights that foreign governments are arranging to bring home their nationalities in Israel.
There are currently around 30,000 Thais working in Israel, 5,000 of them in areas around Gaza Strip which has seen heaviest fighting since Saturday.
“We love our Thai friends, the workers. We appreciate them very, very much. And we treat each and every one of them as we treat Israelis,” she said.
The ambassador admitted though Israel has had experience with wars and terrorism, the Hamas attacks on Saturday were unprecedented.
She also cited reports of how the Hamas fighters slaughtered innocent civilians, including old people and babies.
Sagiv dismissed the possibility of negotiations to end the fighting at this point.
“What are we going to negotiate with the Hamas? They are digging a deep a hole to try to bury all of us. You don’t negotiate with terrorist organizations,” she said.
She insisted that Israel has the right to self-defence and to retaliate.
“What will happen later on? I’m sure there will be some countries and some entities interested in trying to help negotiate. But this is not the time. It’s not the time for talking. It is the time that the Hamas will pay for what they did,” she said.
