Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Thursday, October 12, 2023. Israel’s retaliation has escalated after Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers launched an unprecedented attack on Israel Saturday, killing over 1,200 Israelis and taking captive dozens. Heavy Israeli airstrikes on the enclave has killed over 1,200 Palestinians. (AP)
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino nun is among the remaining civilians in war-torn Gaza City, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told reporters on Wednesday.
The DFA earlier said that northern Gaza or Gaza City is expected to be the “main site for hostilities” amid the Israel and Hamas war.
In a briefing, de Vega stressed the DFA will help convince the remaining Filipinos in Gaza City to move to safer places such as Southern Gaza near the Rafah border crossing.
He added that only three Filipinos remain in the area – and man, his child, as well as the nun.
“The nun, well she has her calling. Maybe you can give me advice, how do you tell a sister? If she’s saying this is her calling, how do we get her out of there?,” asked de Vega.
“Maybe God is calling on her to stay there. Hopefully she’ll be repatriated and hopefully she’ll accept it,” he said.
The Philippine government earlier raised the Gaza Strip’s crisis alert level to 4. This means that the evacuation of Filipinos in the area is still mandatory.
But to date, the Philippines has yet to repatriate Filipinos from the Gaza Strip because the Rafah border crossing remained closed.