Gaza: Six Thai hostages kidnapped and held for weeks in the Gaza Strip by Hamas will arrive back in the kingdom today, officials have said. According to AFP, today at around 2pm (7am GMT), six are expected to land at the capital’s Suvarnabhumi airport following weeks in captivity. Since their release, the group have been recuperating at a hospital in Israel as authorities made preparations to fly them home.

It follows the return of 17 citizens from Thailand at the end of November, during a temporary truce that saw scores of people released before it expired on December 1.

Another nine Thais are still among the hostages taken by Palestinian fighters during October’s cross-border raid into Israel, according to Bangkok’s foreign ministry.

Thirty-nine Thais have been killed and 19 wounded in the war, with the kingdom evacuating more than 8,500 of its people, according to Thailand’s foreign ministry.