'We will be privileged to treat them again'

For second time, Shamir hospital readies to treat Thai hostages ‘like family’

Armed with hard-won experience from first release, central Israel medical center preps rooms and staff amid speculation that 10 foreign nationals could be released in side deal

Reporter at The Times of Israel

In this photo provided by Thailand's Foreign Ministry, two newly freed Thai hostages talk to a Thai officer, left center, and medical staff, at Shamir Medical Center in Israel on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. (Thailand's Foreign Ministry via AP )
In this photo provided by Thailand's Foreign Ministry, two newly freed Thai hostages talk to a Thai officer, left center, and medical staff, at Shamir Medical Center in Israel on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. (Thailand's Foreign Ministry via AP )

At least 31 Thai nationals were among the more that 250 people kidnapped from southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Nearly 16 months later, eight of them remain in captivity.

As speculation ramps up over a possible side arrangement that would free the eight and two other foreign nationals, Shamir Medical Center in central Israel is gearing up for the possibility that it may once again be tasked with the challenging but rewarding job of treating them upon their released.

The hospital near Rishon Lezion — one of six medical centers preparing to receive hostages, according to the Health Ministry — was the first stop for 23 Thai nationals and one Filipino who were released by Hamas in late November 2023 as part of a deal brokered by Iran between the Palestinian terror group and Bangkok. It did not receive any Israeli hostages.

“Although it was complicated, we did, objectively speaking, an amazing, amazing job,” recalled Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach, the director of the hospital formerly known as Assaf Harofeh.

Levtzion-Korach told The Times of Israel that when the medical center took in the foreign nationals, it “involved a lot of common sense because no one knew what to do.”

This time, they are armed with that experience and will have teams and procedures in place to best help those emerging from Gazan captivity.

“We will be privileged to treat them again,” she said.

Demonstrators raise placards bearing the names of hostages held captive in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure their release, Tel Aviv on January 25, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)

There are eight Thai nationals still held in Gaza: Surasak Lamnau, Pingsa Nattapong, Bannawat Seathao, Sathian Suwankam, Sriaoun Watchara, and Pongsak Tanna, as well as Sudthisak Rinthalak and Sonthaya Oakkharasr, both of whom are confirmed dead.

Nepal’s Bipin Joshi and the remains of slain Tanzanian captive Joshua Loitu Mollel are also thought likely to be released alongside the eight Thai hostages.

The Thais are not part of the 33 Israeli hostages expected to be set free during the first stage of a hostage-ceasefire deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas earlier this month.

Seven Israeli women have so far been released under that arrangement, with Jerusalem freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange. The rest of the hostages are set to be released in later stages of the deal, which have yet to be negotiated.

People wave Israeli national flags as a military helicopter transporting the four newly-released Israeli hostages lands at the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva on January 25, 2025. Four young women soldiers, abducted by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023 while serving near the Gaza border, were released on January 25, following more than 15 months in captivity. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

But recent days have seen reports citing unnamed Israeli officials who say they expect the foreign nationals to be released during the 42 days of the first stage. According to the Haaretz daily, officials have gone as far as telling Shamir to prepare to receive the Thai hostages.

Shamir declined to confirm if it had received such instructions from the Health Ministry. “The Health Ministry updates Shamir. Shamir is on constant alert, and prepared for a moment’s notice of their release,” a hospital spokesperson said.

The Health Ministry did not reply to a request for comment.

The entrance to Shamir Medical Center seen on December 15, 2020. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

On Saturday, a delegation of Thai government officials met with Gal Hirsch, the government’s point person on hostages, Haaretz reported.

The Thais and other foreign nationals are among the 90 hostages still in Gaza, most of whom were abducted on October 7, 2023. The number includes the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Tens of thousands of laborers from Southeast Asia were working in Israel when the Hamas attack unfolded, many of them as farmhands in Israel’s agricultural heartland near the Gaza border.

Coffins of 8 Thai workers killed in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas are displayed after being repatriated from Israel during a ceremony at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on October 20, 2023. (James WILSON/POOL/AFP)

Thai nationals were by far the largest group and the most heavily affected, with at least 32 killed in the massacre, according to Bangkok.

‘A different ball game’

According to Levtzion-Korach, the initial release of the 23 Thai hostages posed a challenge for the hospital, which had never dealt with anything like it, though the Health Ministry provided guidance.

Those hostages were released after 54 days in captivity. This next group of hostages will have been held by Hamas for over 480 days.

“It’s a different ballgame,” she said.

A relative hugs a Thai overseas worker who was evacuated from Israel after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, as he and others arrived at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, on October 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

A multidisciplinary team, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, doctors, and nurses, is ready to care for the hostages from the time of their arrival at the hospital until they leave.

Before the last group of hostages arrived at the hospital, the staff had assumed that they would want to be alone, in single rooms. It turned out that they wanted to be together, and the hospital has now arranged for future returnees to be paired up in rooms.

“We need to remember that they each had a unique experience in captivity,” Levtzion-Korach said.

Dr. Osnat Levtzion Korach, director general of Shamir Medical Center at a conference in Jerusalem on July 26, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Some of the Thai workers were held in groups, while others were all alone.

“It was loneliness, it was a lot of sadness,” she said.

Since the Thai nationals are in Israel on their own, the hospital staff “becomes their family,” Levtzion-Korach said.

Thai ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, in a red dress, stands to the left of Osnat Levtzion-Korach, during her visit with some of the recently released Thai hostages at Shamir Medical Center on November 26, 2023. (Courtesy)

But fulfilling that can be tough without a shared language. In 2023, the hospital staff cared for the Thais by working with translators, mostly from the country’s embassy.

Now, after over a year, some of the hostages have likely picked up Arabic, which should help communications with the hospital’s many Arabic-speaking doctors, nurses and others, Levtzion-Korach reasoned.

The staff has already translated instructions and dietary recommendations — along with staff names — into Thai.

A video of the released Thai hostages at Shamir Medical Center. (Courtesy)

An Israeli translator married to a Thai woman who helped in 2023 plans to pitch in again. Last time, he brought them a Buddha statue and they prayed every day, Levtzion-Korach said.

Cultural proficiency is also key to ensuring the former captives feel comfortable and safe after their ordeal, such as knowing that Thai people do not like to be touched, especially on their heads.

It’s also important to remember thatnlike Israelis, who are being released to their homes, the Thais are in Israel on guest visas and may not feel free to speak their minds.

File: A Thai worker picks decorative flower leafs in Kibbutz Sde Nitzan’s flower farm, near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, on July 20, 2014 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

They are “very, very obedient,” Levtzion-Korach said. “We need to explain to them that they can say no.”

The most important thing for the hospital staff, she said, is to give the former hostages their autonomy, their dignity – and their privacy.

“Everyone wants to know what happened there. Everyone wants to hear the stories,” Levtzion-Korach said.

But the hospital staff won’t be asking, she said. “Whatever the person wants to say and tell and share, they will. Of course, we won’t pass it on, because it’s theirs.”

Thai nationals freed from Gazan captivity hug at a hospital in Israel in a photo released by the Thai government on November 27, 2023. (Courtesy)

She recommended that former hostages not talk about their experiences immediately, but rather take time “to feel and relax, and to start learning about the world and then deciding what to do.”

A holistic approach to healing

The staff takes a “holistic approach” to taking care of the hostages, both mentally and physically, Levtzion-Korach said.

Some of the hostages were injured badly during the October 7 attack or afterward and will only be getting proper care now, she noted.

The staff first focuses on malnutrition. Even if a released hostage “looks okay on the outside, not very skinny, the food they got there was limited, probably lacking protein, with mostly carbs,” Levtzion-Korach said.

Hostages rescued by Israel over the last year have described receiving as little as half a pita per day.

This image from a video published January 11, 2024, shows a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis where the IDF believes hostages were held by the terror group. (Israel Defense Forces)

“We know that malnutrition by itself can lead to many, many complications, such as infections,” Levtzion-Korach explained. “There can be gastrointestinal issues, diarrhea, and vomiting. The water [in Gaza] is contaminated. We need to remember that the hygiene there is very bad.”

The other factor, she said, is acclimating after “being in the tunnels without air, without exposure to the sun.”

“Coming into the sun after a long time can be very tough on the eyes,” Levtzion-Korach said, noting that hostages will be given sunglasses as soon as possible after being released.

Released hostage Liri Albag along with her parents Eli and Shira, on a military helicopter on January 25, 2025 (Courtesy)

The hospital will also be prepared to deal with respiratory issues that may have affected hostages who spent prolonged bouts in oxygen-deprived tunnels.

The lingering wounds of the ordeal will extend well beyond the physical.

“It isn’t post-traumatic stress disorder,” Levtzion-Korach said. “It’s still trauma.”

The Health Ministry advises a minimum hospital stay of four days for returning hostages. According to Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the Health Ministry’s General Medicine Division, some of the previously released hostages eventually regretted leaving earlier than recommended, suggesting extended stays could better support their recovery.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, seen on a screen at left, talks to Thai hostages who were freed from Hamas after their arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, November 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

“They’re not in captivity anymore,” Levtzion-Korach said. “But it’s better for them to stay inside the hospital for a while because once they get out, tons of people would like to see them and take their photos.”

The last group of Thai hostages stayed about a week before they all flew back to Thailand.

This handout photo distributed on November 29, 2023, shows Thai hostages after they were released by Hamas at Shamir Medical Center in Be’er Yaakov. (Shamir Medical Center)

“You could see, actually, the way they changed during the week,” Levtzion-Korach said. “At first, they were shy, but then they opened up and sang, and we gave them a guitar, and they were sitting together and singing.”

Two of the former hostages who met in Israel, Nutthawaree Munkan and Boonthom Pankhong, got married in a private ceremony in Thailand in March, said Levtzion-Korach.

Freed Thai couple Boonthom Pankhong (L) and Natthawaree Munkan (R), who were held hostage by Hamas following the October 7 attack on Israel, take part in a traditional welcoming ceremony for their safe return to Thailand, at their house in Thailand’s northeastern Udon Thani province on December 6, 2023. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP)

Levtzion-Korach said that although she feels the hospital is “very well-prepared” for the next group of hostages, mental health care is needed for the nation as a whole.

“We’ve been working so hard since October 7, 2023, that all of us, as a nation and individuals, haven’t stopped to think, ‘Wait, what did we go through?’” Levtzion-Korach paused.

“Because when you start hearing the stories, each story of each person is a whole world,” she said. “Just to hear one story is enough to fill the heart with sorrow.”

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