KUALA LUMPUR – The Philippines has issued a mandatory evacuation of 131 Filipinos in Gaza after its Foreign Affairs Department (DFA) raised the alert level to four.
“The DFA wishes to inform the public that due to the current situation in Gaza, we have placed Gaza under Alert Level 4 (Mandatory Repatriation),” it said in a statement today.
“The Philippine government continues to work on the repatriation of our nationals and will provide updates on developments.”
A total of 131 Filipinos are in Gaza, of which 78 are around the Rafah border crossing near Egypt while the rest are in the north, which is expected to be the target of bombardment by Israel as the conflict escalates.
Hamas launched a surprise attack recently involving dozens of fighters, and killing some 1,300 people, with the objective to end Israeli “violations”.
In response, the Israeli army initiated Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, leading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare that “we are at war”.
This morning, US media reported that aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its strike group have been deployed to join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier in a show of support for Israel.
It was reported that Israel would launch a ground assault on the Gaza Strip and gave Palestinians 24 hours to evacuate. Israel’s military also vowed to expand its war on Gaza with “coordinated attacks from the air, sea and land”.
Gaza has already been under intense bombardment by Israel, with at least 2,300 Palestinians dead and 9,700 wounded. Israel also reported a death toll of 1,300, with more than 3,400 wounded since the Hamas attack. – October 15, 2023