Five Thai men held hostage for 15 months in Gaza have arrived back in their home country where they were reunited with their families.

Pongsak Thaenna, 36, Sarusak Rumnao, 32, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, were released by militants on 30 January as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Mr Pongsak said all of the group “feel grateful and are so delighted to return to our motherland once again”.

In emotional scenes at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Thai capital Bangkok on Sunday, they were met with embraces from their loved ones, some of whom cried.

The farm workers were assessed at a hospital outside Tel Aviv before their return. Earlier this week, four of them were joined by one relative each.

The five had been taken during Hamas‘s cross-border attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others kidnapped.

During the assault, gunmen killed 41 Thais and seized 31 others, making them the largest group of foreigners held captive in Gaza.

Praise for Thailand’s government

Speaking during a news conference, Mr Pongsak praised officials for helping to get the group freed.

He said: “I would like to thank the prime minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and relevant officers who helped us to be released.

“For today I get to be standing right here. It wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t because of each one of you who provided assistance.

“All of us here feel grateful and are so delighted to return to our motherland once again. We all thank you very much. I don’t know what to say. Thank you very much.”

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Pongsak’s father, Wilas Thaenna, 64, from Buriram province, said he was feeling “very very glad. I’m so touched”.

“I was so overwhelmed. I was speechless.”

The group then left to return to their hometowns in Thailand’s northern and northeastern regions.

‘We never gave up’

Thai foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who escorted the hostages back from Israel, expressed relief at their return.

“This is emotional… to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”

It comes a day after Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages whose gaunt appearance shocked Israelis, and Israel freed dozens of Palestinian prisoners in the latest stage of a delicate ceasefire aimed at ending the Gaza war.

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Many of the Thai agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first.

The five now back home were the second batch of Thai hostages freed since the war broke out in October 2023.

During a ceasefire-hostage deal in November 2023, some 23 Thais were released in an agreement negotiated between Thailand and Hamas, with assistance from Qatar and Iran.

A Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas, according to Thailand’s foreign ministry.

“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Mr Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two Thais.

More than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s offensive, said the Hamas-run health ministry.

A released Israeli hostage told a Hamas crowd he hoped to see his wife and daughters after his release – suggesting he did not know they had been killed on 7 October.

Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy were the latest hostages freed this morning in front of a crowd of heavily armed fighters.

Both Mr Ami, 56, and Mr Sharabi, 52, were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the 7 October attack. Mr Levy, 34, was abducted from the Nova music festival.

It was not known if Mr Sharabi was aware his wife and children had been killed by Hamas over a year ago. His Bristol-born wife Lianne Sharabi, along with their children 16-year-old Noiya and 13-year-old Yahel, were killed while Mr Sharabi and his brother Yossi were taken hostage.

Yossi was later killed while in captivity.

Mr Sharabi was paraded on a podium by armed Hamas personnel and interviewed before his release earlier today.

In one of his answers, which was clearly given under duress, he said he was hoping to see his wife and daughters very soon, according to translations provided by our US partner NBC News.

Mr Sharabi also told the crowd he was aware of his brother’s death and said he was “very angry” with the Israeli government.

All three hostages made similar critical comments about Israel while on stage with the armed men.

The comments came as Stephen Brisley, Mr Sharabi’s brother-in-law, told Sky News presenter Anna Jones this morning that he wasn’t sure if he had found out about his family’s fate.

“All the way through this, we’ve wondered whether what’s kept him going is the prospect of being reunited with Lianne and the girls,” he said.

He described his brother-in-law as looking “skinny” and “gaunt”.

“You could see how skinny he is, how pale he is. You wonder how much daylight he’s seen – very gaunt face,” he said.

“I think what struck me the most is that Eli has a very happy face, he smiles with his whole face and smiles with his eyes and it was the lack of light in his eyes that I think is one of the most distressing parts of it.”

Photos after his release showed Mr Sharabi reuniting with his wider family.

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Mr Brisley added: “You don’t know what the last 491 days have done to him, but it’s clearly had an incredible impact on him, and it was written all over his face.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will not accept the shocking scenes that we saw today.”

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In return for the captives’ release, 183 Palestinian prisoners were released – some of which were convicted of being involved in attacks that killed dozens of people.

A bus carrying several dozen Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s Ofer prison arrived in the occupied West Bank, where their families and friends were waiting.

Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said some of the prisoners also looked to be in a “very bad condition”.

And in a statement later on Saturday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “dismayed to see his (Mr Sharabi’s) frail condition and the circumstances of his release”.

He added: “Having met his relatives I appreciate the deep pain they have endured and my thoughts are with them.

“We must continue to see all the hostages freed – these people were ripped away from their lives in the most brutal circumstances and held in appalling conditions.

The ceasefire must hold and all efforts need to focus on full implementation of the remaining phases. This includes the return of further hostages, the continued increase of aid into Gaza and securing lasting peace in the Middle East.”

Some 18 Israeli hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners have been freed since the ceasefire began on 19 January.

Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in an initial stage in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Negotiations on a second phase of the deal began this week. It is aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation to end the war.

It is feared US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move the Palestinian population out of Gaza so the US could take over could complicate the second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire.

Hamas’s cross-border attack into Israel saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and around 250 people taken hostage.

Since then Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

From the moment they stepped from the Hamas vehicle, to be seen alive for the first time in 15 and a half months, the three hostages were clearly gaunt and in poor health.

Reports in Israel say they have lost up to 30% of their body weight and they are in a bad medical condition.

Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy looked much frailer than any of the hostages released previously during this phase of the ceasefire. Their time in captivity has obviously been punishing.

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Like previous hostage releases, they were humiliatingly paraded on stage but this time interviewed in front of the crowd, in a propaganda stunt for Hamas.

Eli Sharabi said he was looking forward to seeing his wife Lianne and two daughters again – he didn’t know that all three of them had been killed on 7 October.

His brother Yossi was also taken hostage but died last year in Gaza.

Israeli media is reporting that Or Levi was unaware his wife had been killed at the Nova music festival.

It has all caused a real feeling of shock and anger in Israel tonight and a new urgency to get all of the hostages home as quickly as possible.

Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted angrily, promising a response. The Israeli president has described it as a crime against humanity and the IDF point man for the hostages has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Any action by the Israeli government could threaten the ceasefire and therefore the release of more hostages. As the hostage families forum and Israel’s president have said, the most important thing is freeing all the captives and getting them home.

Many of the Palestinian prisoners are also returning home looking painfully thin and with stories of being beaten in detention. One prisoner had to be carried off the Red Cross bus by a medic from the Palestinian Red Crescent earlier today.

The Palestinian prisoners released today say they were forced to watch a video of the destruction of Gaza before they were freed.

But there has been a shift in tone and mood after today’s events and it’s unclear what happens next.