The Thai Muslim official who negotiated with Hamas offers his opinions on how the group handled his compatriots.
Dr Lerpong Sayed confirmed that Thai hostages in Gaza had been effectively taken care of by Hamas [Getty]
The Thai negotiator who held talks with Hamas for the discharge of 17 of his compatriots from Gaza has mentioned that the Palestinian group “took excellent care” of the hostages and “set no situations” on what the hostages may and chilly not say following their launch.
Talking in an interview with Sky Information on Wednesday, Dr Lerpong Sayed, who’s a Thai Muslim, mentioned he was assured that the hostages have been handled effectively and that Hamas wasn’t exploiting them.
The negotiator insists there have been no situations from Hamas on what the hostages may or could not say, and dismissed the concept that Hamas are utilizing the hostage releases as a spectacle.
“They had been effectively taken care of, effectively taken care of, given shelter, garments, meals and water and given psychological assist,”, Sayed confirmed.
Dr Sayed is a part of a small staff of three folks engaged on behalf of the Thai Home Speaker, Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, and the Shia Muslim chief in Thailand, Syed Sulaiman Husaini. The group shaped by the speaker, a Malay muslim from the nation’s south, labored independently from the Thai authorities.
Sayed says attributes he and his staff’s down-to-earth strategy as being key to securing the discharge of the Thai hostages.
“We went there to barter as regular folks, not politicians. Hamas noticed this. They noticed us as Thai Muslims,” he mentioned to Sky Information.
“They [Hamas] promised that if there was a ceasefire Thai folks can be launched within the first group. Now we are able to clearly see Thais are among the many first residents freed in comparison with 20 different nationalities.”
Thai nationals had been the only largest group of overseas nationals held by Hamas in Gaza. Most went to Israel to work as farm labourers. On 7 October, when Hamas launched its assault, many had been working in farms on the border. Earlier than the warfare, 30,000 Thai labourers labored in Israel, predominantly within the agricultural sector.
Controversially, Sayed says he believes Hamas had been justified in taking hostages.
He claims Hamas did so “to assist the Palestinians”, citing the hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and many years of Israel’s violent occupation.
And the negotiator mentioned that Hamas delivered a stark warning to Thais considering of working in Israel, saying: “The border space is disputed land and it is warfare time and Hamas will contemplate anybody who works there may be working for the outlaws.”
In keeping with the Thai authorities, 15 Thai nationals are nonetheless held in Gaza.
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