Marcos bares Israel promised to allow Filipinos’ exit from Gaza by Saturday

While President Marcos said that the fate of Filipinos in Gaza is “out of our hands,” he is expecting that Israel will allow them to cross the Rafah border on Friday, Nov. 3, or Saturday, Nov. 4.

Marcos said Israel has made a promise to prioritize the exit of Filipinos from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing.

“I know many people are worried about our people, our Filipino nationals in Gaza, in Israel in the middle of the war,” Marcos said during a press briefing in Malacañan on Friday.

“At saka dumating ang balita sa atin na yung mga nasa Gaza hindi pinapalabas pa sa Rafah crossing. And nagtataka ang iba bakit nga hindi (We’ve heard the news that those who are in Gaza are not allowed to exit. And others are wondering why. Well, it is unfortunately completely out of our hands. We have no control over this,” he added.

The President explained that the matter is now “between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”

But the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) continues to communicate with Israeli authorities, including their foreign minister and the President of Israel.

“So, may pangako sila sa atin na maipapalabas na ang mga Pinoy, ang mga Pilipino, maipapalabas na by today or tomorrow. That is what they promised us. Saturday daw at the latest (So, they promised to allow the exit of Filipinos by today or tomorrow. That is what they promised us. Saturday at the latest),” Marcos said.

“So, that is the latest news that I received today, early this morning from our Secretary of the DFA. And sana naman matotoo na para mailabas na natin lahat ng gustong lumabas (And I hope it’s true that they will allow the exit of those who want to) and  bring them back home to safety,” the Chief Executive added.

At present, there are 134 Filipinos in Gaza. A total of 115 of them are awaiting permission from the Israel government to cross the border, while 19 remain undecided.

The DFA has explained that their exit is taking time due to various factors such as the limited number of allowed foreign citizens to cross the border per day and the securing of permission from relevant authorities for Filipinos to cross through the Rafah border.

Meanwhile, two Filipino doctors were among those who exited Gaza through the Rafah border—the only way out of war-torn Gaza—on Nov. 2.

READ MORE: DFA appeals to Israel: Enable Pinoys’ exit from Gaza soonest

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