Philippines urges simultaneous evacuation of 46 Pinoys in Gaza

The Philippine Embassy in Jordan has asked Israeli authorities to allow the simultaneous evacuation of the two batches of Filipinos still stranded in Gaza.

According to Raffy Tima's report on "24 Oras," this developed after the expected evacuation of the 46 Filipinos over the weekend was stalled due to the suspension of the opening of the Rafah border crossing to Egypt.

The opening of the border was suspended after an Israeli air strike on Friday destroyed an ambulance being used to evacuate casualties from the besieged northern part of Gaza.

The strike resulted in the deaths of 15 people and wounding 60, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A spokesman of the Israel Defense Force claimed that they targeted an ambulance that was "being used by a Hamas terrorist cell" and that militants were killed in the strike.

The IDF accused Hamas of using ambulances to transport militants and weapons.

The Rafah crossing to Egypt's Sinai peninsula is the only exit point from Gaza not controlled by Israel. Aid trucks were able to travel into the territory through the route, a Reuters report citing two Egyptian sources said.

Of the 46 Filipinos who were supposed to leave Gaza, two are pregnant women and one was an infant born at the onset of the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

Ambassador Wilfredo Santos said 16 of the 20 Filipinos in the first batch are already in Rafah at a location that is just a 10-minute walk to the border crossing.

Of the second batch, 19 of 26 are in Rafah Governorate.

The envoy also said they are still convincing other Filipinos, including those refusing to leave their Palestinian spouses behind, to evacuate.

“The children have diarrhea so they have to consider the situation as compared to where they are (and) will be when they leave Gaza. So that’s a factor in their decision,” Santos said.

The Philippines has raised Alert Level 4 in Gaza City, meaning evacuation for Filipinos there is now mandatory, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Oct. 15.

With this, the DFA called for Filipinos to leave Gaza and vowed to assist them in crossing Egypt.

Some sources  said that 9,700 Palestinian have died in the recent conflict while the Israeli death toll has reached 1,540.

Hamas militants described Israel’s recent attacks against refugee camps, including the Maghazi Camp where 50 civilians died, as "a massacre."

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the West Bank and met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of US diplomatic efforts. Abbas pushed for an immediate “Israeli ceasefire” during the meeting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said previously that there will be no ceasefire until Hamas releases the more than 200 hostages it kidnapped during its surprise attacks on October 7 against Israel.

During his visit to Baghdad, Blinken said they are working on implementing a humanitarian pause in Gaza to facilitate the entrance of aid in the enclave and the release of the Hamas abductees. —Sundy Locus/RF/KG, GMA Integrated News