Witkoff to freed IDF soldiers: We have a common goal to bring everybody home
US Mideast envoy tells released hostages: Trump ‘could not be more happy’ you are home; Israel grants permanent residency status to 5 Thai hostages freed last week
Meeting with four IDF soldiers who were freed from Hamas captivity just days earlier, US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff told them the White House has a goal “to bring everybody home.”
On Sunday, the US embassy published footage of Thursday’s meeting in the Rabin Medical Center between Witkoff and Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, and Karina Ariev, four IDF surveillance soldiers who were freed five days earlier, after more than 15 months in captivity. The fifth surveillance soldier, Agam Berger, was released the day of their meeting.
Speaking to the soldiers and their families, alongside Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Witkoff told them that US President Trump “could not be more happy” about their return to Israel.
“The people of the United States stand with you, the president stands with you, and we have a common goal to bring everybody home so everybody can have this, every family can have this moment,” Witkoff said.
Speaking on behalf of her comrades, Albag told Witkoff that seeing the efforts of those working to get them home “gave us the hope to stay alive.” Now, she said, they want to spread “love. This is our first goal,” she added, as she and her three comrades made a heart symbol with their hands.
“That’s a big thing that you tell us,” the US diplomat responded.
.@SteveWitkoff , U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, met last Thursday at @Beilinson_ENG with the four female soldiers who were released a week ago, after a long period in Hamas captivity.
This event highlights the importance of international cooperation, as we continue to… pic.twitter.com/sUl1QzekmZ
— U.S. Embassy Jerusalem (@usembassyjlm) February 2, 2025
According to a report on Channel 12 news, the soldiers told Witkoff that, while in captivity, when they heard that Trump had been elected, it encouraged them, because they believed it could advance their release.
In a snippet of the footage, as Witkoff embraced the hostages before departing, he joked to Gilboa — whose boyfriend proposed to her while she was in captivity — that he expected an invitation to her wedding.
“I want to go to all the weddings!” he added.
The same day, Witkoff also met with a group of family members of hostages and freed captives in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, reiterating his vow to do everything to bring their loved ones home.
“Everybody is feeling how wonderful it is that we’re saving lives — that’s the most important thing,” Witkoff told the families on Thursday. “But it’s also important that we bring home people who [are no longer alive, so that parents] can bury their children… they have to be able to bury them,” he added, to a chorus of agreement in the room.
Since the start of the current ceasefire-hostage release deal last month, 13 Israelis and five Thai hostages have been freed from Hamas captivity. An additional 20 Israelis are slated to be released over the coming weeks, although Israel has said it believes eight of them are no longer alive.
Separately on Sunday, Israel said it would be granting permanent residency to the five Thai hostages who were freed from captivity in Gaza several days earlier.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel met Thailand’s visiting Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, telling him that Israel would grant such a status to Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao, and Surasak Rumnao, as a humanitarian gesture, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry.
The five Thai agricultural workers were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and the Yesha moshav on October 7, 2023. Three Thai citizens are believed to still be held in Gaza — Pinta Nattapong, and the bodies of Sudthisak Rinthalak and Sonthaya Oakkharasri. During a truce in November 2023, 23 Thai hostages were freed from captivity.
The five hostages freed on Thursday are expected to return home to Thailand to reunite with their loved ones, after they are released from hospital following treatment. It was not clear whether any of them were seeking to return to Israel or to settle permanently in the Jewish state.
Sangiampongsa also sat down on Sunday with President Isaac Herzog, and told him that he met with the freed hostages a day earlier, and “physically, they are doing well, but we cannot know yet the damage caused by being held captive for over a year. They were held in tunnels, and we worry for their mental and physical wellbeing.”
Thai Ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya said on Friday that the Thai government may bring some relatives of the released hostages to Israel, though many do not have passports, and that the government would help those released return home as soon as they are medically cleared to travel.
Israel will recognize the released Thai hostages as terror victims, a designation that entitles them to financial benefits and health care, said Alex Gandler, the deputy spokesperson of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
AP contributed to this report.
