The deadly war between Israeli forces and Hamas militants did not stop Filipinos working as caregivers in Israel from serving and attending to their patients.

"Life must go on" for Lourdes Levi, who like other Filipino caregivers in Israel, is making heroic sacrifices to go to work and ensure that their elderly employer remains being cared for.

"You need to work dahil wala po kayong makakapalit, kawawa po yung matatanda. As a caregiver, napakalaki po ng responsibilidad namin (Because no one else can replace you. I pity our elderly patients. As a caregiver, we have a big responsibility)," she said in an interview with ANC on Monday.

An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) for 24 years in Israel, Levi does not stay at her employer's home and has to travel everyday to where she lives.

Since Hamas attacked Israel by sea, air and land on Saturday, she admitted that the situation now is "very scary" as people "no longer know who the enemies are."

"'Yun din po yung kinakatakutan namin, kasi di mo alam nandyan pala sa tabi mo yung kalaban mo (That's what we're really scared of. You won't know if the enemies are already beside you)," Levi said.

On Sunday, she said, she encountered a man wearing a mask on the streets as she went home. But the only thing she did was pray.

"Nagdadasal na lang po ako wala po akong magagawa (I just pray because I have nothing to do)," she said.

"So ang akin nalang katwiran, kahit nasaan ka naroon, if [it's] God's will na mamatay ka, mamatay ka. So lakasan na lang po loob, ganoon nalang po ang ginagawa namin dito (I just comfort myself that wherever you are, if it's God's will that you die, you'll die. I just take the courage to go out, that's what we're doing here)," she added.

Levi said Hamas' surprise assault on Israel is the scariest she has ever witnessed for over two decades as the militant group attacked the country by simultaneously launching rockets to the air, deploying bulldozers on the land to break border limits, and sending trucks with armed men.

"Ang kalaban po ay 'di na namili at 'di na rin alintana kung do or die na sila, bawat madaanan nila ay namamaril at sinasaksak (The enemies do not care anymore. They just do or die. They kill and stab everybody)," she said.

Levi, who has been in contact with the Philippine embassy, Israeli authorities and other community leaders, said a Filipino was taken hostage and brought to Gaza by the militants.

She added that three Filipinos were also wounded and four more remain missing.

The Philippine government said it is still verifying the information on affected Filipinos, but Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Eduardo Jose de Vega said any bad scenario is possible, even for Filipinos.

The death toll due to the Israel-Hamas war already reached over a thousand on Monday, or just two days after Hamas made the attack and Israeli retaliated by declaring a war.

Levi advised her fellow OFWs, especially the caregivers, in Israel to stay with their employers if possible to ensure their safety.

"'Wag na po namin isa-isip at masyadong dibdibin kung anong nangyayari sami at sabayan na lang ng pray, dahil masakit po malaman na ganito 'yung sitwasyon namin (Let's not overthink and just pray because it's really hard to think that this is our current situation)," she said.