The Department of Health on Thursday offered assistance to the distressed overseas Filipino workers who will be arriving from Israel and Gaza following the surprise attacks of Palestinian Sunni-Islamic extremist Hamas in the Middle Eastern country.

In a press briefing, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said he gave his department's "whole support" to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration by providing returning OFWs with stress debriefing.

"I saw OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio in an airport. I spoke to him and I said: You have my support. The whole Department of Health's support," Herbosa told reporters at the launching of the 2024-2028 Philippine Council for Mental Health Strategic Framework in Pasay City.

"If there are Filipinos affected and they need mental health support or health care, just contact me. So, I committed that already to our fellow Filipinos affected by the war in Gaza," he added.

Herbosa said the DOH could provide stress debriefing for Filipinos who will be returning from war-torn Israel.

"Stress debriefing is a standard operating procedure after a major disaster or for people coming from crisis. Stress debriefing is done by professionals to identify if the patient needs medication or continued psychosocial therapy," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised Alert Level 3 in Gaza due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Currently, there are 137 Filipinos in Gaza – the epicenter of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The DFA noted that at least 70 of them were requesting to be repatriated.

There were no requests for repatriation among Filipinos in Israel which is currently hosting almost 30,000 OFWs, the agency said.