108 Pinoys in Gaza must join evacuation - DFA

(Updated 1:48 p.m. ) MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has advised all 108 Filipinos, mostly women and children, to join the latest evacuation plan out of the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., said the Canadian-led evacuation is scheduled at 8 a.m. in Gaza (2 p.m. Manila time) with Red Cross officials escorting all civilians out of the area.

But Conejos stressed that the evacuation plan might be canceled too if the situation further escalates and makes any travel by road dangerous to the escaping civilians.

A Filipina in Gaza told GMANews.TV in an earlier interview that air raids and bombings are less frequent in the morning, opening a window of opportunity for civilians to flee.

Conejos said Philippine Ambassador to Israel Petronila Garcia will lead the Philippine Embassy team to meet the evacuees at the Erez Border Crossing (See flash presentation above to view the evacuation plan).

As of posting time, at least three Filipino families were reported to have boarded the Red Cross bus that would ferry them out of the Gaza Strip, according to a phone interview with Edres Salama, a Palestinian doctor married to Filipina nurse Laila.

Salama said Israel has invaded the Gaza Strip, a narrow strip of land slightly bigger than the central Philippine island of Siquijor that is wedged between Israel and Egypt along the Mediterranean Sea.

"Tanks are on the road," Salama said, "I am safe where I am but everywhere else in Gaza is dangerous." (See related article here)

Efforts to extract foreign nationals from the conflict-ridden Gaza Strip was called off on Wednesday upon the advise of the Red Cross team who deemed the situation too dire and dangerous for any evacuation activity.

A total of 22 Filipinos were supposed to be part of the Red Cross-escorted bus that will transport them to the Erez Border, the first point in the evacuation plan.

Most Filipinos, mostly wives of Palestinians in Gaza, were hesitant to leave their homes out of fear that they would be caught in the crossfire. Some Filipina wives like Laila told GMANews.TV that they prefer to remain in Gaza at the thought of leaving their Palestinian husbands who were not permitted by the Israeli government to leave.

Only the Filipinas and their children both held Philippine passports and Palestinian identity cards.- Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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