Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement offers hope for Thai hostages

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The Israeli-Gaza war took an unexpected turn as Israel and Hamas agreed to swap hostages for prisoners. This development has brought a glimmer of hope for the Thai workers who were held hostage during the conflict. As per the information received by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the ceasefire agreement between the two battling factions is likely to facilitate the release of the Thai hostages.

 

The 61 year old prime minister expressed his optimism about the situation saying, “We are confident there will be good news.” He also stated that the Thai government is in discussions with Qatar to assist in the evacuation of Thais through the country. However, he urged Thai workers still in Israel not to return to conflict zones during the ceasefire.

 

The ceasefire comes after six weeks of relentless war. The Israeli government and Hamas declared on Wednesday that they would enforce a brief ceasefire to enable the release of 50 captives taken by Hamas during their attack on Israel last month. These hostages were taken from various locations including homes along Israel’s border, military bases, and an outdoor music festival.

 

by Mitch Connor

TOP PICTURE: FILE - About a thousand Palestinian and pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied at the corner of W. Hubbard St. and N. Armour St. near where President Joe Biden was attending a fundraising event in the West Town neighbohood of Chicago, Nov. 9, 2023. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File). Picture courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times, AP

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-11-23

 

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[TroubleandGrumpy]

Good to see - hopefully this means much of Hamas' leadership and infrastructre has been destroyed.

Israel says it is swapping 150 Prisoners for 50 hostages - over 4 days - and then the war will resume.

Extreme international pressure has been applied to Israel to make thius deal and to have a ceasfire.

I wonder if both sides will keep their word - only time will tell I guess.

One thing is sure, if Hamas reneges on the deal then Israel will intensify their actions and never cease fire again.

What worries me about this agreement, is that Hamas is like most terrorist organisations in that it is not 'centralised' like the Israel army, and some random Hamas group may decide to take advantage of the cease fire and conduct an attack during the 4 day cease fire.

[Tug]

Hope they can get them out they have absolutely nothing to do with the current situation pure victims 

[Morch]

1 hour ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Good to see - hopefully this means much of Hamas' leadership and infrastructre has been destroyed.

Israel says it is swapping 150 Prisoners for 50 hostages - over 4 days - and then the war will resume.

Extreme international pressure has been applied to Israel to make thius deal and to have a ceasfire.

I wonder if both sides will keep their word - only time will tell I guess.

One thing is sure, if Hamas reneges on the deal then Israel will intensify their actions and never cease fire again.

What worries me about this agreement, is that Hamas is like most terrorist organisations in that it is not 'centralised' like the Israel army, and some random Hamas group may decide to take advantage of the cease fire and conduct an attack during the 4 day cease fire.

 

There is no information (and not even Israeli/USA statements to this effect) that any top Hamas leaders were killed. As for infrastructure, a whole lot was destroyed in areas taken by the IDF, but that's just a relatively small part of the Gaza Strip. There is a measure of autonomy with regard to actions of the Hamas leadership in Gaza (and more specifically, the military wing) vs. other Hamas leaderships.

 

Hamas is not 'decentralized' as you imagine. Actually quite organized and disciplined on such matters. Splinter groups, if and when, are dealt with very harshly. What sometimes does happen is that other organizations (such as PIJ) do their own thing (with or without Hamas's nod). 

 

One obvious problem with this deal is that it's open ended. Hamas can, on the 4th day, announce it will release some more hostages, with arrangements needed to be sorted again etc. This could lead to things dragging on and on.

 

So far, this plays more to Hamas's benefit - but it's not like Israel had much choice there.

[Enzian]

There was a ceasefire in effect on October 6. What else does anyone need to know?

[billd766]

2 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Good to see - hopefully this means much of Hamas' leadership and infrastructre has been destroyed.

Israel says it is swapping 150 Prisoners for 50 hostages - over 4 days - and then the war will resume.

Extreme international pressure has been applied to Israel to make thius deal and to have a ceasfire.

I wonder if both sides will keep their word - only time will tell I guess.

One thing is sure, if Hamas reneges on the deal then Israel will intensify their actions and never cease fire again.

What worries me about this agreement, is that Hamas is like most terrorist organisations in that it is not 'centralised' like the Israel army, and some random Hamas group may decide to take advantage of the cease fire and conduct an attack during the 4 day cease fire.

And if Israel and the IDF reneges on the deal, then what will you do or say?

 

Personally I refuse to believe anything that the Israeli government or the IDF says without independent verification. I treat the Hamas government the same way.

 

I will only believe that the hostages are released when they are in another country. 

[Morch]

3 minutes ago, billd766 said:

And if Israel and the IDF reneges on the deal, then what will you do or say?

 

Personally I refuse to believe anything that the Israeli government or the IDF says without independent verification. I treat the Hamas government the same way.

 

I will only believe that the hostages are released when they are in another country. 

 

@billd766

 

You routinely make this comment, but it's a false one. Effectively, you cite Hamas (and Palestinian) supplied information as fact on numerous posts. With objections actively raised pertaining to information from Israeli sources.

 

How do you mean 'other country', in this case?

[Eloquent pilgrim]

Must continue to hold out hope. However, I believe that most of the Thai nationals working, and subsequently abducted in Israel, are male; this will probably put them towards the back of the queue regarding hostage release.

 

I would expect the Israeli government will want a significant number of Israeli citizens released, particularly women and children first. Another potential deal breaker is that Hamas is yet to submit a list of Israeli nationals to be released, or to ratify the agreement with Qatar; so a long, long way to go yet, and we must also hope and pray that the women released haven’t suffered significant ill treatment.