Be ready to evacuate Pinoys in Gaza, gov't told

A migrant workers' rights group on Monday called on the Philippine government to start evacuation of hundreds of Filipinos in Gaza amid reports of an impending invasion of Israeli military of the area.

Migrante-Middle East said Filipinos are worried if the fighting and retaliation of Palestinian fighters against the attack of the Israeli forces will intensify  and spread to Jerusalem, where most of Filipinos are working and living.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) records showed that there are about a hundred of Filipinos including their families in Gaza, while about 41,000 Filipinos, most of them care givers, are in Israel cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Migrante said the Philippine embassy officials in Tel Aviv should be vigilant and must be able to read the situation on the ground as it will be crucial when to start the rescue and evacuation of 100 Filipinos in Gaza to get them out of harm’s way. 

“The buildup of Israel military reservists near the borders of Israel-Gaza is a clear sign of impending ground invasion by the Israeli forces of Gaza and this will certainly wrought atrocities to the Palestinian people,” the group's regional coordinator John Monterona said.

“We appeal to the international community and the UN Secretary General to intervene to put a halt on Israel attacks against the Palestinian people. Per reports, Palestinian women and children were injured and scores of them died due to heavy assault by the Israeli forces,"Monterona added. - Dennis Carcamo