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Gov't not recommending mandatory repatriation of Pinoys in Israel

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Palestinians look at the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, on October 9, 2023. Haitham Imad, EPA-EFE" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/10/10/20231010-israel.jpg"/><figcaption>Palestinians look at the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, on October 9, 2023. <em>Haitham Imad, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><h3>DFA raises Alert Level 2 in Israel </h3><p>MANILA — Government officials on Wednesday said they were not recommending any mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in Israel, saying the situation in the battle-torn country has improved. </p><p>Two Filipinos have so far been killed because of the Israel-Hamas attacks, with another one <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/11/23/1-more-pinoy-feared-dead-in-israel-hamas-attacks-officials">feared dead</a> pending verification, authorities said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/11/23/marcos-jr-denounces-terror-attacks-in-israel-amid-deaths-of-2-pinoys">Marcos Jr denounces terror attacks in Israel amid deaths of 2 Pinoys</a></li></ul><p>Despite this, Philippine Ambassador Pedro Laylo, Jr. does not support mandatory repatriation, since the &quot;these fatalities happened during the day of attack and the situation.&quot; </p><p>&quot;The Israeli Defense Forces have already regained the areas attacked by the Hamas,&quot; Laylo told Palace reporters. </p><p>Meanwhile, Consul General and Deputy Chief of Mission Anthony Mandap of the Philippine Embassy in Israel echoed Laylo&#x27;s concern. </p><p>&quot;I think it’s inaccurate to word it as mandatory repatriation, because we are not recommending it now and as the Ambassador has mentioned the killings happened on day one and the situation has considerably improved since then,&quot; said Mandap. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/11/23/pinoy-taken-away-then-killed-by-hamas-militants-officials">Pinoy &#x27;taken away&#x27; then killed by Hamas militants: officials</a></li></ul><p>Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said the Philippine Embassy is not recommending it as this was only imposed during Alert Level 4. </p><p>Alert Level 4 means the country has &quot;broken down and the rule of law and everything about peace and order has broken down,&quot; according to De Vega. </p><p>&quot;That is not the case in the state of Israel,&quot; he added. </p><p>Right now, Israel is under Alert Level 2, he said. This means there are real threats to life, security and property of Filipinos due to internal or external threat. </p><p>Filipinos in countries where Alert Level 2 is raised were advised to avoid non-essential movements, avoid public places, and prepare for evacuation. </p><p>Despite this, he said precaution is needed. </p><p>&quot;We’re not going to deploy new workers which is actually a status quo anyway because we still have to negotiate the agreement about caregivers and about the hotel workers is by a G2G agreement (government-to-government) and right now there is no deployment,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;So, we still urge precaution; the embassy already issued a travel advisory – we repeat that we do not recommend visits to Israel at the present time,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;I believe the Ambassador will back me up on this that this is still their continued advice although you can travel to Israel, there are flights, but if you have Holy Site visits perhaps you can postpone it until after the conflict has subsided.&quot;</p><p>The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said they are prepared to evacuate Filipinos in Israel &quot;should there be a need for that.&quot; </p><p>AFP Spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said they were willing to provide C-130 and C-295 as air transport. </p><p>“We have already identified Adana airport sa Turkey as a temporary safe haven,&quot; he said. </p><p>There are some 30,000 Filipinos in Israel, and 137 others in the Gaza strip.</p><p>Israel said it had largely secured the Gaza border and was evacuating nearby towns where the bodies of 1,500 Hamas militants had been recovered by Tuesday after days of grueling battles outside the Palestinian enclave.</p><p>The death toll in Israel has surged above 900 from the worst attack in the country&#x27;s 75-year history, while Gaza officials have reported 687 people killed so far.</p><p>The Israeli army has called up 300,000 reservists for its &quot;Swords of Iron&quot; campaign and massed tanks and other heavy armor both near Gaza, and on the northern border with Lebanon.</p><p>The military said its forces had largely reclaimed the embattled south and the border around Gaza and dislodged holdout Hamas fighters from more than a dozen towns and kibbutzim.</p><div><strong>— with a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2839118" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div style="text-align:center"><em><strong>Video from RTVM</strong></em></div>

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said the Philippine Embassy is not recommending it as this was only imposed during Alert Level 4. 

Gov't not recommending mandatory repatriation of Pinoys in Israel

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Gov't not recommending mandatory repatriation of Pinoys in Israel

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 11, 2023 04:17 PM PHT

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Updated October 11, 2023 09:22 PM PHT

Read More:

Israel

Alert Level 2

mandatory repatriation Pinoys Israel

Hamas

Gaza Strip

Israel conflict

Palestine

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