Israeli President Meets With Envoys Whose Citizens Were Murdered and Abducted by Hamas

Jerusalem, 3 November, 2023 (TPS) -- President Isaac Herzog on Thursday met with the ambassadors of Thailand, the Philippines, Tanzania and Nepal, countries whose citizens were murdered and taken hostage in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror invasion of southwestern Israel, the President’s Office in Jerusalem said.

“We are here because of the tragedy that has befallen the people of Israel, and many people from your nations. We know that many of your citizens in Israel were murdered, killed, tortured, wounded, and unfortunately, taken hostage,” Herzog told the envoys.

“Hamas does not differentiate between any religion, any belief, any country, any state. Thirty-six countries are represented in this entire tragedy. But your countries are represented the most in terms of the fact that so many citizens of yours have faced this horrendous atrocity,” he added.

The president concluded, “Your citizens have been ruthlessly abducted and taken to Gaza as innocent people who came to study and work in our country and do good. The Israeli people love and appreciate your people.”

Among foreign countries, citizens of Thailand were the second largest number of fatalities—right after the U.S.—in the Hamas massacre of 1,400 Israelis living near the Gaza border.

Twenty-nine Thai workers were killed in the terror attack, the ambassador said, while an additional 23 Thai nationals were among the nearly 250 people taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza, the single largest group of foreigners from a total of more than three dozen countries.

“The news about Israel is every day in the Thai media, and we are concerned about the well-being of the Thai people who are still living and working here in Israel,” Thai Ambassador Pannabha Chandraramya said.

“We have grave concern for those who have been abducted. We want to know where they are and how we can help them,” the envoy told Herzog.