Overseas Filipino workers that are currently in Israel would be protected from the havoc brought by the terrorist group Hamas, Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss said Sunday.

In a virtual briefing, Fluss assured that the Israeli government would not leave Filipinos behind as it retaliates against the Palestinian militants from their surprise attack that killed more than 250 Israelis.

"Let me say and stress [that] we have close to 30,000 Filipino OFWs in Israel. We treat them like we treat any other Israeli nationals, and we try to protect them as well as we try to protect our Israeli citizens," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs previously said that there are almost 30,000 Filipinos in the Middle Eastern country. Most of them work in the caregiving, hospitality, engineering, and healthcare industries.

Fluss said the massive terror attack by Hamas which took place on the sacred day of Simchat Torah – a Jewish religious celebration – left more than 250 people killed, and 1,600 injured.

He noted that Hamas also captured more than 100 Israelis as hostages in Gaza.

No verification

Meanwhile, the Israeli ambassador said that their government has no information yet on the Filipinos allegedly being taken by Hamas as hostages.

"I've seen the reports regarding the OFWs being kidnapped… We know that there were some foreign nationals who were also killed and probably some who have been kidnapped," he said.

"We don't have any verification of information regarding Filipino nationals as of this time," he added.

On Sunday morning, the Philippine Embassy in Israel announced its closure due to the ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict.

"The public is advised that the Philippine Embassy will be closed beginning Sunday, 8 October 2023, and until further notice, due to the current security situation," the statement read.