Khammee Lamnao, the mother of Thai hostage Surasak Lamnao, said the Thai embassy in Israel had called her Wednesday to let her know her son was one of the five who were to be released.
“I cannot wait to see my son,” the 53-year-old said. “I’ve been waiting for him for a year and five months.”
Surasak had been working in the agricultural sector in Israel for 15 months when he was taken hostage during the October 2023 attack.
Thirty-one Thai nationals are believed to have been taken hostage when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Of those, 23 have been released, two have been confirmed to have died and six more are believed to be still in Hamas captivity.
Five are due to be released today, and it is not clear at the moment what the status of the sixth person is.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
