The Philippine government on Friday welcomed the ceasefire agreement reached by Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas after nearly two weeks of bloody exchanges of rockets and airstrikes that left 232 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead.
In a brief statement, the Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cited the effort made by a number of countries, specifically Egypt and the United States, to seek a truce and avoid further bloodshed from both sides.
“The Philippines welcomes the ceasefire agreement reached by Israel and Hamas. The Philippines acknowledges the effort of several countries, including Egypt and the United States, in facilitating the agreement,” the DFA said in the statement.
A Hamas official was quoted as saying in a report that the truce would commence at 2 a.m. on Friday.