"I Am Not Dead": Thai Hostage Calls His Survival In Gaza A "Miracle"

"He said, 'I'm not dead, I'm not dead'," Roongarun said, calling his survival a "miracle".

Vetoon Phoome's family feared the Thai farm worker had been killed by Hamas in last month's attack on Israel, until they found out on Saturday he had been freed along with other Thai hostages in Gaza.

"He told me not to cry, to tell mother I'm coming back," Vetoon's sister, Roongarun Wichagern, told Reuters after an emotional reunion with him via video call.

Vetoon, 33, who has been living in Israel for five years, was one of 10 Thai hostages freed by Hamas during the first truce of a seven-week-old war that started with the Palestinian militant group's October 7 assault on southern Israel.