11 Pinoys from conflict-torn Gaza seek repatriation – DFA

Three Filipino families from conflict-stricken Gaza Strip have sought government assistance for repatriation amid ongoing hostilities between Palestine and Israel, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
 
The DFA said it has coordinated the extraction of 11 Filipinos, composed of three women married to Palestinians and their children bearing Philippine passports, to the United Nations, which leads the evacuation of foreign nationals from Gaza.
 
This is the first batch of Filipinos who asked for repatriation since Manila enforced crisis alert level 3 or voluntary repatriation phase for the Gaza Strip.
 
“From Gaza, they will be extracted by the UN. There are about 700 foreign nationals being extracted by the UN and they will be in groups and these Filipinos will belong to one of the groups,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said, adding their Palestinian husbands will not be joining them to the Philippines.
 
From Gaza, they will be brought to the border with Israel and from there, Philippine Embassy officials in Tel Aviv will meet them and be brought to the border with Jordan, where they will be met with Filipino diplomats.
 
But before the Philippine government could execute its repatriation plan, Jose said the DFA would have to find out if they would be allowed to exit Gaza through Israel.
 
“They will be transiting via Israel and then from Israel to Jordan. So it would depend on whether or not they will be allowed to enter Israel in the first place before they could transit to Jordan and then from Jordan to the Philippines,” he said.
 
The resumption of conflict between Israel and Palestine – the most violent encounter to erupt in two years – prompted the Philippine government to enforce repatriation for the 108 Filipino in the Palestine-controlled Gaza Strip.
 
Citing the “growing threats to security posed by the Israel-Hamas conflict to Filipinos in the Gaza Strip,” the Philippine government asked Filipinos there to leave immediately.
 
The Philippine Embassies in Cairo, Tel Aviv, and Amman, Jose said, are ready to assist those who wish to leave Gaza.
 
Alert Level 1 or Precautionary Phase, on the other hand, remains raised in the West Bank and in southern and central Israel. Filipinos in these areas are advised to take the necessary precautions.
 
“Our embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv are actively monitoring the condition of the Filipinos in Gaza Strip and West Bank. So far, we have not received reports of Filipinos harmed or killed as a result of conflict in those areas,” Jose said. — RSJ, GMA News

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