5 Filipinos in Israel missing — DFA
Rockets are fired by Palestinian militants into Israel, in Gaza City October 7, 2023. (REUTERS)
MANILA, Philippines – Five Filipinos remain unaccounted for amid the ongoing conflict on Israel, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“Usually caregivers ‘yan. Ang isa ay lalaki. We’re not giving complete details dahil baka ayaw pa ng family. Ang latest number ay five [Filipinos ang unaccounted] for pero walang casualties so far,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.
(They are usually caregivers. One of them is male. We’re not giving complete details because their family might not want it to be publicized yet. The latest number is five Filipinos remain unaccounted for, but there are no casualties so far.)
De Vega said they are still verifying if all five of these Filipinos are based in southern Israel.
“Kasi kung taga Tel Aviv ‘yan ay maaaring hindi connected sa Hamas ‘yan kasi sa south border pumasok ang Hamas,” said De Vega.
(Because if they are from Tel Aviv, it is possible that it’s not connected to Hamas because Hamas entered from the southern border.)
De Vega likewise addressed circulating claims on social media that Filipinos were among held hostage by the Hamas group.
“We’d like the public to be careful, maraming lumalabas sa social media. Baka naman hindi itong mga ito Pilipino. We want to give you only correct [information],” he added.
(We’d like the public to be careful because there are many circulating claims on social media. It’s possible that these are not even Filipinos. We want to give you only correct [information])
In a separate interview, De Vega likewise told INQUIRER.net that no requests for repatriation have so far been raised by Filipinos in Israel.
