Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Friday no Filipino has been reported harmed amid the ongoing conflict between Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas terrorists in Gaza Strip.
“There was no one hurt or injured among our Overseas Filipino Workers there,” Bello said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
Only one OFW sought assistance from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) because a bomb almost hit the home of her employer.
“She got afraid due to the incident, and she has since been transferred to our POLO office’s shelter,” Bello added.
The DOLE chief assured Filipinos that a rapid rescue team has already been deployed in case the Israel-Gaza conflict escalates.
“This is in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs because it is them who makes the call on alert level,” Bello said.
No Filipinos hurt amid Israel-Gaza conflict – Bello
“If it reaches Alert Level 4, then that means forced repatriation. They (Filipinos) will have to repatriated whether they like it or not,” Bello added.
However, he said that Filipinos there have not yet expressed their desire to be repatriated.
“They are well taken care of and are enjoying competitive salaries that could even be higher than mine,” he said.
Both sides of Israel and Palestine’s Gaza Hamas group continue to drop bombs that have already resulted in the loss of many lives.
Israel again carried out airstrikes in an area in Palestine allegedly connected to Hamas on Wednesday.
Hamas and other Palestinian militants, meanwhile, fired rockets at Tel Aviv and Beersheba, and a residential building was blown up.
According to a Reuters report, 35 people were killed in Gaza and five in Israel.
According to Israel, their warplanes shot and killed several Hamas intelligence leaders. The others allegedly targeted by their bombs were rocket launch sites and offices and homes of Hamas leaders.
This is the worst clash between Israel and Hamas since 2014.
Some foreign leaders fear that the situation will get worse.
According to UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland, the United Nations is working to ease the unrest.
The unrest came after weeks of tension in Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in which there were clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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