THE FOREIGN Ministry said this morning (May 17) that two more Thai hostages have died in Gaza with six more remaining in captivity, Naewna newspaper said.
Mr. Nikorndej Phlangkur, the ministry’s spokesperson, said the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv had been informed by the Israeli government that its hostage situation assessment committee had considered reliable circumstantial evidence and concluded that two of the eight Thai hostages who have not yet been released have died.
They were identified as Mr. Sandhya Akhrasri and Mr. Suthisak Rinthlak and it appeared that both died at the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
The Thai government reiterated its call for the release of all remaining hostages as soon as possible, including the six remaining Thai hostages, and urged all parties to make maximum effort to hold talks that would immediately resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Meanwhile The US House delivered a rebuke to President Joe Biden on Thursday (May 16) for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, passing legislation that seeks to force the weapons transfer as Republicans worked to highlight Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war, according to an AP report published by Yahoo!News.
Seeking to discourage Israel from its offensive on the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Biden administration this month put on hold a weapons shipment of 3,500 bombs — some as large as 2,000 pounds — that are capable of killing hundreds in populated areas. Republicans were outraged, accusing Biden of abandoning the closest US ally in the Middle East.
Debate over the bill, rushed to the House floor by GOP leadership this week, showed Washington’s deeply fractured outlook on the Israel-Hamas war. The White House and Democratic leadership scrambled to rally support from a House caucus that ranges from moderates frustrated that the president would allow any daylight between the US and Israel to progressives outraged that he is still sending any weapons at all.
The bill passed comfortably 224-187 as 16 Democrats joined with most Republicans to vote in favour. Three Republicans voted against it.
On the right, Republicans said the president had no business chiding Israel for how it uses the US-manufactured weapons that are instrumental in its war against Hamas. They have not been satisfied with the Biden administration moving forward this week on a new $1 billion sale to Israel of tank ammunition, tactical vehicles and mortar rounds.
“We’re beyond frustrated,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said. “I don’t think we should tell the Israelis how to conduct their military campaign, period.”
The House bill condemns Biden for initiating the pause on the bomb shipment and would withhold funding for the State Department, Department of Defence and the National Security Council until the delivery is made.
The White House has said Biden would veto the bill if it passes Congress, and the Democratic-led Senate seems certain to reject it.
“It’s not going anywhere,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier this week.
Republicans were undeterred. Appearing on the Capitol steps ahead of voting on Thursday morning, House Republican leaders argued that passage of the bill in the House would build pressure on Schumer and Biden.
“It is President Biden and Senator Schumer himself who are standing in the way of getting Israel the resources it desperately needs to defend itself,” Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Biden placed the hold on the transfer of the bombs this month over concerns the weapons could inflict massive casualties in Rafah and to deter Israel from the attack.
Over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed as Israel tries to eliminate Hamas in retaliation for its Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 more captive. Hundreds of thousands of people could be at risk of death if Israel attacks Rafah, the United Nations humanitarian aid agency has warned, because so many have fled there for safety.
The heavy toll of the Israeli campaign has prompted intense protests on the left, including on university campuses nationwide and some aimed directly at Biden. In a rare scene on the Capitol steps on Thursday, a group of about two dozen House aides gathered just as lawmakers were entering the chamber to vote and displayed a banner that read, “Your staff demands you save Rafah.”
CAPTIONS:
Top: Displaced Palestinians walk along a devastated street as others gather at a water point to fill their jerricans in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024. Photo: AFP and published by CNA
Front Page: Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Jabalia after the Israeli military called on residents to evacuate, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas and published by CNA
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