Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday stressed its commitment to helping secure the release of the last Thai hostage still held captive by Hamas.
In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Majed Muhammad Hassan Abdullah al-Ansari, an adviser to the Qatari PM and spokesman for the Qatari foreign affairs ministry, said his government would like to reaffirm its commitment to try and return the hostage to his family.
"We are committed to doing everything possible for that hostage to return to their family," he said.
Dr Ansari said Qatar has been mediating and assisting in the release of Thai captives since the start of the war by negotiating a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, resulting in the first truce and the release of the first 23 Thai prisoners in November 2023.
When that truce later collapsed, the Qatari government began working with Egypt and the United States to find a more sustainable truce between Israel and Hamas, resulting in the recent ceasefire that saw another five Thai hostages released on Jan 30 of this year.
"[Since the beginning of the war,] we have been working 24/7 without any time off. One thing that is always in our mind is keeping civilians out of harm's way in this war, especially Thai workers who are not part of this war, and the picture of these hostages being reunited with their families was such a reward for us," he said.
When asked about the difficulties in securing the release of the Thai hostages, Dr Ansari said that distrust between Israel and Hamas has been a challenge as there has been a long history of conflict, violence and distrust. This made the mediation process difficult, particularly regarding mutual agreements, including hostage exchanges, he added.
Furthermore, putting an agreement into action has been challenging, he said. As a mediator, Qatar needed to ensure that both sides followed through on their commitments and that an agreement's execution was reasonable and acceptable to both parties.
"We only learnt of the swap of hostages at the last minute. We needed to confirm with the opposite side, which was challenging. We were glad to see that the Thai captives were part of the release process," he added. There is still one Thai family waiting for the return of the last hostage, he said.
"We remain committed and dedicated [to our mission], even if only one captive remains," he said.
