Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss assured that the safety of foreigners, especially Filipinos, is the “top priority” of Israel amid the escalation of violence and unrest in the region between Israel and Iran.

He made the assurance during an online press conference on Saturday night, June 14, when he talked about Israel’s recent attacks against Iran and the retaliatory attacks conducted by Iran.

“The safety and security of foreigners in Israel especially for the Israeli Embassy in Manila, the safety and security of Filipinos in Israel is top priority and we urge the Filipinos in Israel to follow instructions from their home front command, these instructions will save lives,” he told reporters.

“We are committed to make sure that the Filipinos in Israel are safe and are getting the same treatment as any other Israeli and any other person in the state of Israel. We care about every life,” he added.

Fluss said that the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines keeps in touch not only with the government, but also with the Filipino community and other communities in Israel.

“From what I hear, and I get some updates from friends that are in Israel, the messages I get is, generally speaking, they feel fine, they are following the instructions, they feel safe, and they are getting basically the right appropriate hospitality from the Israeli counterparts, if it is OFWs, if it is tourists, if it is people there for training programs. So they are feeling comfortable and safe,” he shared.

While some of them had to defer their plans to return to the Philippines “at the time being,” there was “no panic, no pressure” as “they are waiting and they understand the situation and they follow instructions.”

“So the Filipinos, this is what I can say about the Filipinos, and we are certainly in coordination and giving the right messages to the relevant entities, embassies, and people,” he added.

While the envoy clarified that the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines remains operational, he also admitted that they are doing an “internal assessment according to the needs” seeing as Israeli diplomats and embassies have become the target of attacks by terrorists.

“The embassy is not closed as you would say closed. We will do an assessment, and they will decide how we continue our work,” he said.

Although the “global threat” of Iran’s retaliation is not new to Israel, Fluss stressed that “we will not take any risks” and “we will operate according to certain security standards that would be decided by our headquarters.”

Personally, however, the ambassador said that he has always felt “very safe and very much at home, very much loved and welcomed by the Filipino people.”

“On the other hand, we have to remember that globally there is now, as I said before, there is a threat against Israeli diplomats and Israeli embassies and other institutions,” he pointed out.

“And we are taking, we will take precautions in order to make sure that and to keep the safety and security of our diplomats and Israeli diplomats and other Israelis in the Philippines. And of course, we are doing this in close coordination with the Philippine relevant agency in the Philippines,” the envoy furthered.

Fluss also explained that Israel would also want a de-escalation of the situation in the region, but this would happen only “when everything is in place which means when there's no more threat to the state of Israel.”

“We would be very happy to have de-escalation, but before that we have to remove the imminent, direct, and immediate threat to Israel and the Israelis,” he said.

The ambassador claimed that Iran’s plan is to annihilate Israel and that there was a plan to attack Israel, which was the reason Israel initiated the attack last Friday.

Following Israel’s attack on Iran’s huge Natanz underground nuclear site that killed its top military commanders, Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes at Israel, with explosions heard in the country’s two biggest cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he authorized the assault to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, something that Iran claimed it only does for peaceful purposes.

Iran is also reportedly allied with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both militant groups have been decimated by Israel.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel’s action was a “declaration of war,” with a senior Iranian official claiming that there will be no safe place in Israel and revenge would be painful.

Foreign media reported that Israel and Iran launched a fresh wave of missile strikes against each other on early Sunday morning.