Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss on Sunday, Oct. 8, said they have not received reports yet that some Filipinos have been killed in Israel amid the fighting with Palestine militants Hamas group.
(Screenshot from Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Facebook)
He added that Israel will also try to protect Filipino citizens the way it protects its own.
“We are still in emergency situation. Things have not yet stabilized. We don’t have enough information yet on identities and names of the people that were killed, injured, and kidnapped,” the envoy lamented during a press conference.
“As I said, the fighting is still continuing until now. I have seen the report regarding OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) being kidnapped. We treat them (Filipinos) like any other Israeli national and we try to protect them as well as we try to protect our israeli citizens,” he added.
According to Fluss, there are about 30,000 Filipinos in Israel.
“I heard about a report of Philippine nationals but we don’t have at this stage any confirmations regarding Philippine nationals. We know the Thai nationals involved but we are not aware of Philippine nationals,” the envoy shared.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said on X (formerly Twitter) that the “Department of Foreign Affairs is monitoring the situation of Filipinos in the Middle East.”
“The Philippines will continue to look after the welfare of Filipinos who are affected by the current situation,” he added.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega said there are no reports of Filipino casualties in Israel.
While its government efforts are “ongoing” to control the situation there, Fluss stressed that “Israel is still under attack.”
“Secondly, we don’t have the information on the number of casualties and injured people. We don’t have the exact number of people that were kidnapped and taken as hostages into Gaza,” the envoy said.
A statement from the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines said that the “massive terror attacks” over the weekend caused more than 250 Israeli casualties, more than 1600 injured, and more than 100 Israelis have been kidnaped and captured as hostages in Gaza.
“Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel. The terrorist organization entered our cities and residential homes targeting innocent Israeli citizens including elderly people, women, and children,” it added.
The surprise rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive was initiated by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
At least 232 Gazans were also killed when Israel retaliated with intense air strikes.