By Junex Doronio
SEEING THE GRAVE DANGER the Filipinos in Israel are facing amid the armed conflict in the said Middle Eastern country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday said it has prepared a possible evacuation operation plan.
“I am here to assure everybody that with the guidance of our President, his excellency President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., the AFP is prepared to execute evacuation operation should there be a need for that,” said AFP spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar in Malacañang briefing.
Fierce fighting still continues between Israeli forces and the Palestinian militant group Hamas which launched a “surprise” attack in Israel in response to “years of Israel oppression” in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Gaza Strip is a 25-mile-long by 6-mile-wide enclave, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east, and Egypt to the south.
Maharlika NuMedia learned that during the so-called Six-Day War in 1967, Israel captured Gaza.
In 2006, Hamas won local elections in Gaza and then took sole control of it in 2007.
But despite Hamas’ electoral victory, Gaza has been under a strict Israeli blockade, dependent on the Israeli government for electricity, water, and telecommunications.
“We already came up with a plan on how to do it and this will be a whole of nation approach because what is important for us is the safety of our countrymen there in the conflict area,” Agular added.
He said that they have already identified a temporary safe haven for Filipino evacuees in case the situation worsens.
The AFP official said two airports have also been identified for the embarkation of the Pinoy evacuees.
(ai/mnm)
