A blast from old munitions injures 6 Thai workers in northern Israel

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BANGKOK (AP) — An explosion of old munitions in northern Israel on Tuesday injured six Thai migrant workers, with two sustaining serious injuries that required surgery, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said.

There are more than 40,000 Thai workers in Israel, mostly in the agricultural sector. Most are from rural areas where employment prospects are poor, so they work abroad to send money back to their families.

Israeli media reported that the workers were hurt when unexploded ordnance detonated in an orchard near the town of Metula, close to the border with Lebanon, where there has been combat for months.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jaithai Upakarnitikaset, citing the Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv, said the country’s ambassador had already visited the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, where all six were taken, to provide assistance. The embassy said it would coordinate with the medical center and other agencies to help provide care and compensation.

Thais were the largest group of foreigners to have been captured in the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel; 31 were taken hostage, 28 of whom were returned alive, and three dead. Thirty-nine other Thais were killed in the assault, while a few others have died in northern Israel since then. 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.

A large number of Thai workers fled home after the 2023 attack but many have since returned to Israel.