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With many Filipinos also caught in the middle of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remembered their resilience and strength in the aftermath of the Typhoon “Yolanda” tragedy.
A plume of smoke rises above buildings in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on Oct. 8, 2023. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
“If I know anything about the Filipino people, I don’t pretend to know, but from what I saw after the horrors of the typhoon [Yolanda], I know that the Filipinos they are very strong people like Israelis,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) quoted IDF spokesperson Major Libi Weiss as saying in a virtual conference when asked about the condition of Filipinos in Israel.
Coincidentally, the official was part of the Israeli contingent that helped the Philippines in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City in 2013.
In the same virtual press conference sponsored by the Israeli Embassy in Manila, Weiss gave updates on the situation of Filipinos in Israel.
The spokesperson said that everyone, including Filipinos and all other foreign nationals in the country, in Israel is distraught.
“Everybody who is in Israel since Saturday has felt I think a huge degree of sadness, of fear, of loss. You know, I include the Filipino people who are here in Israel sort of with that by saying that we all feel that,” she added.
Palestine militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel more than a week ago caused thousands of deaths, including three Filipinos.
Israel has since retaliated and warned Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza as it sends air missiles and mulls a ground offensive.
Weiss said that Israeli forces called on their citizens, including Filipinos, to move away from any area where there could be strikes.
Weiss also emphasized that she wanted to see to it that all hostages will be sent home safely by Hamas.
“But again, I say this, and I repeat it. But I think, it’s an important message that sometimes we’re missing which is that the fastest way, the safest way for them to come home will be for Hamas to release them immediately without any terms, without any conditions,” she said.
The official, however, deferred to foreign embassies when asked if there are safety measures or evacuation plans in place for foreign nationals because it is a special concern on a diplomatic level.
Weiss, however, emphasized that lines of communication are open.
Currently, the Philippine government raised crisis alert level 4, or mandatory repatriation, in Gaza.
Some 131 of the 137 Filipinos there already left Gaza City, while 22 of the 30,500 Filipinos in Israel also expressed their intentions to go home. — Raymund Antonio
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
