Three Filipinos are still in strife-torn Gaza City, the center of the hostilities between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, while the fourth batch of repatriates from Israel is expected to arrive by the end of October, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday, Oct. 26.

Smoke billows from the Gaza's Rafah border crossing Egypt during an Israeli airstrike on October 10, 2023. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

In an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega explained that of the 136 Filipinos in the Gaza Strip, three are in Gaza City, where Israel sends its missiles to dismantle Hamas.

Of the three Filipinos in Gaza City, one is a 63-year-old nun, who the DFA official said doesn’t want to leave.

But while more than half—78 Filipinos—want to leave Gaza Strip, they would have to wait until the border it shares with Egypt opens.

“Lagpas isang linggo na naghihintay sila kung kailan ‘yung opening [ng border], saka may attack. Hindi pa sigurado na safe talaga sila, although sabi ng Israel naman, hindi naman ‘yun ang tinitira nila (They have been waiting for more than a week when the border will open, and there’s an attack. Their safety is not assured, although Israel said they are not targeting that area),” the official said.

De Vega also reported the possibility that the two missing Filipinos—a man and a female—are being held hostage by Hamas.

While they have heard no word about the Filipina, De Vega said the Israeli government claimed the Filipino is being held as a hostage.

“Yun isa kinonfirm nila (Israel government), hindi 100 percent. Ginawang hostage ‘yun lalake… ang iniisip namin parang hostage na rin (The other one they confirmed, but not 100 percent. The male was taken hostage, we’re treating him as a hostage),” he added.

Meanwhile, the DFA official shared that the next batch of repatriates from Israel will arrive either on Oct. 29 or 30.

Of the 30,500 Filipinos in Israel, about 120 Filipinos have requested government assistance to return to the Philippines.

There were already 59 of them who have been flown back from the war-torn Middle East country in the past two weeks.

The violence between Israel and Hamas erupted after the Oct. 7 ambush by Hamas which killed 1,400 people, including four Filipinos.

Currently, crisis alert level 4, or mandatory repatriation, is raised in Gaza Strip by the Philippine government, but Filipinos have yet to be evacuated due to the closure of the Egypt-Gaza border.

The Israeli government said that more than half of the 220 hostages held by Hamas have foreign passports from 25 countries, 54 Thai nationals, 15 Argentinians, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, six French, six Russians, one Chinese, one Sri Lankan, two Tanzanian and two Filipinos.