By Junex Doronio
DESPITE THE MANDATORY REPATRIATION ordered by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as Israel prepares to launch a massive ground offensive in Gaza, not all Filipinos are keen on going home to the Philippines.
On Monday, the DFA noted that some of them who fled Gaza City said they would look for somewhere else to stay in Gaza, a Palestinian enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea where Hamas won local elections in 2006 and then took sole control of it in 2007.
“Merong 23 na Pilipino — itong huling batch — na umalis sa Gaza City, ayon sa ating embassy,” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega disclosed on TeleRadyo Serbisyo on Monday morning.
Last October 7, the Hamas militants launched a “surprise” attack on Israeli villages.
The DFA said all Filipinos in Gaza City have already left the area and all 131 Filipinos in the Gaza Strip are accounted for.
Israel only captured Gaza during the so-called Six-Day War in 1967.
However, even if Hamas won the local elections in Gaza in 2006, still the Gaza Strip was under a strict Israeli blockade, dependent on the Israeli government for electricity, water, and telecommunications. (ai/mnm)
