Israel underscores rescue of all hostages as its top priority

“Thais and Israelis are being treated the same. When we talk about freeing hostages, we talk about all the hostages, not just Israelis. We mean everybody,” Israel Ambassador Orna Sagiv said at a roundtable with Thai press on Monday.

She said bringing all hostages home was Israel’s top priority, “and we are doing everything we can.

“Remembering that we are in the war…. Let’s say if there were no hostages, maybe things would have been different,” she said.

Israeli authorities have confirmed that 25 of the 239 hostages are Thai nationals – the highest number of foreigners being held captive by Hamas in the ongoing war.

As of now, 39 Thais have reportedly lost their lives and 18 injured since Hamas launched an unprecedented offensive against Israel on October 7.

Thousands have returned home, and most of them have told the Thai Labour Ministry that they will go back to work in Israel again.

Meanwhile, the ambassador said Israel will not negotiate with Hamas, and that she cannot discuss any details with the media.

Ambassador of Israel to Thailand, H.E. Orna Sagiv

Important player

Sagiv also iterated that Iran is a very important player in the region, and is responsible for what is happening in Gaza.

“Iran is behind everything … don’t let Iran manipulate you … Iran is the reason. Iran is not part of the solution. They are the reason for everything,” she said.

The ambassador also said that the current conflict is an “unprovoked war” and that Israeli operations in Gaza is a war against Hamas, not the people of Gaza. She said Israel had no wish to take control of the Gaza Strip.

“Our enemy is Hamas. We are going to eradicate Hamas. It’s not going to be a short war, but Israel will prevail,” said

Sagiv added that when they believe Hamas has been dismantled and when the Israeli military gets to the leaders of the militant group, then they can start considering whether they have accomplished their goal.

Solution

As for peaceful coexistence, the ambassador said it was not possible at this point, because they are still fighting Hamas. However, she said, she hopes there will be a peaceful solution once the war ends.

She added that the October 7 attack has certainly hurt the confidence and trust between Israel and Palestine.

“It’s very difficult to have any kind of talk about the future when you don’t have trust,” the ambassador explained.

“I don’t think we should speak now about the future. We all hope to find a solution in the future that will enable good lives for Israelis and Palestinians alike. What kind of solution? Unfortunately at this stage, I could not tell you,” Sagiv said.