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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 20 Pinoys' exit from Gaza-Rafah border delayed one day—DFA

20 Pinoys' exit from Gaza-Rafah border delayed one day—DFA

Published Nov 5, 2023 03:57 am

Foreigners, including some 20 Filipinos, failed to evacuate from war-torn Gaza after the reported latest attacks along the route to the Egypt border, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Sunday, Nov. 5.

Israel_Hamas3.jpgPalestinians carrying foreign passports wait at the Rafah gate in the hopes of crossing into Egypt amid Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip. (Photo by SAID KHATIB/Agence France-Presse)

This batch of evacuees, including 20 Filipinos, should have crossed the Rafah crossing border this weekend, but it was delayed because of the recent spate of attacks there.

“Hindi natuloy ‘yung evacuation ng foreign citizens from Gaza kahapon — Saturday. Dahil may attacks ‘yung Hamas, tapos nagsisisihan sila (The evacuation of foreign citizens from Gaza yesterday—Saturday—did not push through. Because the Hamas launched some attacks, then they’re blaming each other),” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in an interview over Teleradyo Serbisyo.

He explained that Israel has accused Hamas of attacking the border, while Hamas claimed that Israel was attacking convoys headed to the border.

With the failure of the scheduled exit to Egypt, the DFA official added that they would try to evacuate the foreigners again.

Some 20 Filipinos were supposed to leave strife-torn Gaza on Saturday via the Rafah crossing, while another 26 are scheduled to follow them.

De Vega said he hopes there would be no more delay, so the Filipinos can finally come home.

However, he earlier expressed concern that some Filipinos might now want to leave their Palestinian spouses behind and may want to stay in Gaza.

He shared that the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv is trying to convince the Israeli government to allow some 38 Palestinian spouses to leave with their Filipino spouses.

Still, De Vega hoped that Filipinos would take advantage of the opening of the Egyptian border.

“Mas mabuti na habang ngayon meron ng permission, tumawid na (It is better for them to cross the border now that there is permission),” he said, adding that permission to cross the border is up to the governments of Israel and Egypt.

“Mababalikan naman nila ‘yung asawa pag tapos na ‘yung gyera kaysa mamatay sila doon (They can go back to their spouses when the war is over instead of dying there),” the official furthered.

Crisis alert level 4, or mandatory repatriation, is currently raised in Gaza Strip by the Philippine government amid the violence there between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Hamas group.

The recent strife started on Oct. 7 when Hamas ambushed Israel and killed 1,400 civilians. In retaliation, Israel launched a massive air offensive on Gaza that already left 8,000 civilians dead.

Related Tags

Department of Foreign Affairs Repatriation Gaza Hamas attack Eduardo De Vega
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