Summary of Press Briefing on the Situation in Israel 

Wednesday 18 October 2023 at 15.00 hrs.

at Press Conference Room, MFA and via MFA Facebook Live

1. Overview

1.1 Mrs. Kanchana Patarachoke, DG of Info. Dept. and MFA Spokesperson, shared updates on the situation in Israel, as reported by the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv (RTE), and outcomes of the Rapid Response Center (RRC) meeting this afternoon at 13.00 hrs. to expedite the evacuation of Thai nationals.

1.2 Following the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the North of the Gaza Strip yesterday (17 Oct.), MFA Spokesperson expressed sadness and condolences to all the victims and their bereaved families, and called for the respect of international humanitarian law. She informed that MFA will soon release an official statement in this regard.

2. Statistics regarding Thai nationals

2.1 Death toll: 30 (increased by one)

2.2 Number of injuries: 16 (unchanged)

2.3 Number of abductions: 17 (unchanged)

2.4 Number of Thai nationals who have registered for voluntary repatriation: 8,160 while 110 Thai nationals wish to remain in Israel (increased from yesterday).

3. Evacuation Plans

3.1 Yesterday morning (17 Oct.), RTE facilitated the 6th and 7th repatriation of a total of 428 Thai nationals. Of this number, 162 Thai nationals were repatriated via El Al chartered flight, which arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 19.05 hrs. The remaining 266 Thai nationals were repatriated via Thai Airways chartered flight and arrived this morning (18 Oct.) at Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 05.00 hrs.

3.2 Today (18 Oct.), RTE will facilitate the 8th and 9th repatriation of Thai nationals, as follows:
(1) 8th repatriation via El Al flight arriving in Suvarnabhumi Airport tomorrow (19 Oct.) at 12.35 hrs. (2) 9th repatriation via Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) aircraft arriving at Military Airport 2, Wing 6, tomorrow (19 Oct.) at 13.40 hrs. This RTAF flight departed from Thailand with food, water, and medical supplies from Thai Government agencies and the private sector, including MFA, Thai Beverage PCL., and Thai Airways International PCL.

3.3 To ensure the safety of Thai nationals while awaiting repatriation, RTE has opened seven Safe Transit Centers at hotels in Tel Aviv to accommodate more than Thai nationals who have been evacuated out of danger zones into safe zones and wish to return to Thailand.

3.4 RTE continues to coordinate and explore additional repatriation routes, including via transit in Dubai, with the aim to repatriate up to 600 or more Thai nationals a day. At present, RRC is arranging repatriation flights via El Al, Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) aircraft, Thai Airways, Air Asia, Nok Air, and Thai Lion Air.

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News Division

Department of Information