Malaysia says Thailand thankful for help securing hostages’ release: ‘it was the wisdom of Hamas’

Name: Four-year old American girl freed as Hamas and Israel release hostages under a 4-day truce
Uploaded: 2023-11-28T01:27:04.000Z
Duration: 3 min 5 s
Description: Four-year old American girl freed as Hamas and Israel release hostages under a 4-day truce

PM Anwar Ibrahim credited the Palestinian militant group’s sagacity – and Egypt’s border opening – for the safe release of the Thais taken hostage

Three more Thais held by Hamas were released from Gaza on Sunday, taking to 17 the number of Thai nationals freed since a ceasefire began on Friday

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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) walks with his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin during their meeting on Monday in Thailand’s Sadao near the Malaysia-Thailand border. Photo: Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia/AFP

The Star

Published: 9:27am, 28 Nov 2023Updated: 9:29am, 28 Nov 2023

Thailand has thanked Malaysia for assisting in the safe release of Thai nationals held captive by Hamas, according to Anwar Ibrahim.

The Malaysian prime minister said his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin had “expressed his appreciation to Malaysia for our help to secure the release of its hostages”.

“I said we have done our best to help but it was the wisdom of Hamas – with the help of Egypt which opened its border – that secured the safe release of the Thai nationals,” Anwar told a press conference at the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex in Bukit Kayu Hitan on Monday.

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Four-year old American girl freed as Hamas and Israel release hostages under a 4-day truce

It was earlier reported that three more Thais held by Hamas were released from Gaza on Sunday, taking to 17 the number of Thai nationals freed since a four-day ceasefire began on Friday.

Anwar was on a working visit to Thailand to discuss bilateral cooperation with his counterpart Srettha.

He said both leaders also spoke on their earlier agreement to form several task forces to boost existing ties, adding that these included task forces on tourism, trade, food security and agriculture as well as border security issues.

On the construction of a second bridge between the border towns of Sungai Golok and Rantau Panjang, Anwar said the project would be implemented next year once an environmental impact assessment had been approved.