By Junex Doronio
AMID THE FIERCE FIGHTING between the Hamas militants and Israeli forces, around 38 Filipinos have requested to be repatriated following the massive attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) disclosed on Tuesday (10 Oct 2023).
But there is still no definite date on the repatriation as DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the Philippine Embassies in Tel-Aviv, Cairo, and Amman “are working on the repatriation of Filipinos from Gaza.”
“It is a complicated process due to the situation in Gaza,” De Vega admitted in his GMA News Online interview.
He confirmed that “about 38 persons” wanted to be repatriated from Gaza.
Gaza is a Palestinian exclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
During the so-called Six-Day-War in 1967, Israel captured Gaza.
In 2006, Hamas won local elections in Gaza 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.
The Hamas militants launched the “surprise attack” last Saturday in response to what they claimed mounting Palestinian suffering under Israel’s occupation and blockade of Gaza.
Meanwhile, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac said repatriation and evacuation of Filipinos from Israel will be done “at the proper time.”
“Sa tamang oras, sa tamang panahon, in coordination with the Israeli authorities, ay tayo ay magsasagawa evacuation-repatriation doon sa mga nagnanais umuwi. Kapag dumating sa punto ng mandatory repatriation, ay isasagawa rin natin ito,” Cacdac said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. (ai/mnm)