On Thursday morning, four Thai workers and one Israeli were killed when a Hezbollah rocket struck an apple orchard in the northern town of Afula. The deaths of the four Thai workers—Kawisak Papanang, Akaphon Wanasai, Thana Tijantak, and Prayat Pilatram—brings the total number of Thai nationals killed in Israel since the war to 46. Thirty-two Thai people were also taken hostage on October 7, eight of whom remain in Hamas captivity.
Only last month, 42-year-old Thai worker Nissan Marim was killed when a rocket struck the fields of Kibbutz Yir’on, where he was working.
“The community of agricultural workers from Thailand is paying a heavy price in this war, and Israel must do more to protect them,” Yahel Kurlander, a consultant to the foreign workers advocacy organization Kav LaOved, said. “That responsibility is also placed on the agencies and the employers.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.
