Daily Tribune
Black smoke billows following an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the Lebanese-Israeli border on June 21, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on June 21, that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah must not turn Lebanon into "another Gaza."
Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP
No Filipinos have been reported hurt in the barrage of airstrikes launched by Israel against Lebanon on Wednesday local time, killing at least 250 people according to initial reports.
“So far, there are no Filipinos who are part of this number,” Vice Consul Mark Joshua Ponce said in a radio interview on Thursday.
He added that the Israeli strikes were “very destructive”, leaving the landscape visible from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut completely destroyed.
The deadly attack followed a two-week conditional ceasefire reached by the United States and Iran a day earlier, which Israel also consented to, although the latter asserted that the truce does not extend to Lebanon.
Tel Aviv’s insistence on excluding Beirut contradicts an earlier statement from Pakistan, the main mediator in the ceasefire talks.
The Philippine Embassy in Beirut advised Filipinos there to remain vigilant and stay indoors with their employers in the wake of attacks as Israel vowed to intensify military operations over the next 48 hours.
They are also advised to avoid large crowds and always carry their passports when going out.
There are about 14,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, mostly workers, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Ponce said Lebanon has remained on Alert Level 3 since October 2023. Under this level, voluntary repatriation is activated, and since it was opened, more than 2,000 Filipinos have returned to the Philippines.
However, while the expenses are entirely shouldered by the Philippine government, only a few avail of the repatriation, according to Ponce, even after the broader parts of the Middle East were subjected to drone attacks and airstrikes following the eruption of the US-Israel war on Iran on 28 February.
“We have been open for three years for voluntary repatriation. However, they don't want to go home…In fact, we are repeatedly telling them to [avail it] while the flights are still available, the airport is still available,” he said.
Some airspace in the conflict-stricken Middle East has remained closed, such as that of Kuwait and Bahrain, due to hostilities.
Another Filipina has been killed along with her Israeli husband by a missile attack that struck Haifa, Israel, on Sunday, amid sustained hostilities in the Middle East, where there are over 2.4 million Filipinos.
Prior to the ceasefire, a 29-year-old Filipino had been killed along with her Israeli husband and elderly parents-in-law by a missile attack that struck Haifa, Israel, on Sunday.
She was identified as Lucille Jane Gershovich, the second Filipino casualty reported in the US-Israeli war on Iran, and the third since the conflict began in June last year.
The DFA said the Philippines welcomed the truce and remains hopeful that “all parties will resolve their differences through earnest dialogue and diplomacy.”
It also called for the implementation of the ceasefire deal and urged all parties to "fully abide by international humanitarian law, most notably the protection of civilians."
