Hostages as leverage: Iran’s secret demand aimed at crippling Israel’s agriculture

If Thailand complied, it would deliver a painful blow to Israel’s agricultural sector at the very moment it was struggling to recover from the shock of the attack.

Iran offered Thailand help in securing the release of Thai hostages held in Hamas captivity on the condition that Bangkok label Israel an “unsafe country” and instruct its tens of thousands of agricultural workers to leave the country immediately, two sources familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

The Iranian message was clear: help us apply economic pressure on Israel, and we’ll help you bring your people home.

In the tense and chaotic weeks following the October 7 attack, while Israel was still counting its dead and searching for missing civilians, a drama was unfolding thousands of kilometers away in Bangkok.

The government of Thailand, shocked by the scale of the massacre in which 39 Thai citizens were murdered and desperate to protect its citizens, began urgent diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the 31 Thai laborers abducted by Hamas and other terrorist groups.

It was a humanitarian crisis, not a political one; Thailand had no direct conflict with Hamas. But as often happens in the Middle East, even humanitarian crises can become bargaining chips.

Tehran, which maintained influence over Hamas, signaled it might be able to facilitate the release of the Thai hostages; however, the offer was not unconditional.

Possible damage to Israel’s agriculture sector

If Thailand complied, it would deliver a painful blow to Israel’s agricultural sector at the very moment it was struggling to recover from the shock of the attack.

Between 30,000 and 40,000 Thai laborers worked on Israeli farms and in greenhouses – some of them in the western Negev and near the border with Gaza, the area hardest hit on October 7.

Their sudden withdrawal would have crippled Israeli food production and inflicted long-term economic damage.

In November 2023, as rescue efforts stalled and families of the hostages pleaded for answers, Thailand dispatched a high-level delegation to Tehran.

They met with senior Iranian officials and, according to some reports, even with Hamas representatives, including Musa Abu Marzouk, a key figure in Hamas’s political bureau. There were hints of progress. Arifin Utarasint, Thailand’s envoy to Iran at the time, publicly stated that Hamas was “prepared to release the abducted workers at the right time.”

Within weeks, the first 23 Thai hostages were released during the initial truce. Another eight were freed in subsequent phases in the next year.

However, not all returned home alive – three Thai workers were murdered either on October 7 or in captivity. The final body to be recovered, that of Suttisak Rintalak, was returned to Israel on Wednesday.

He had been working in agricultural fields in the Gaza border area that morning, completely unaware that terrorist infiltrators were already moving toward the area. It took over two years before his remains were finally identified and repatriated.

Although Iran’s alleged demand aimed to trigger a mass exodus of Thai laborers, it did not succeed. Frightened and traumatized in the immediate aftermath of the attack, some workers did return home.

However, the majority chose to stay – motivated by economic necessity, loyalty to employers, or simply the hope that Israel would soon stabilize. Ultimately, only a few thousand Thai workers left the country, far short of the tens of thousands Iran had hoped would leave.

By mid-2024, the situation had shifted even further. In May 2024, Thailand’s minister of labor traveled to Israel. After meetings with Israeli officials, both sides agreed to encourage Thai laborers to continue working in Israel, reaffirming the close economic relationship between the two countries.