DFA: Contingency plans for broader Middle East in place amid Israel-Hamas war

The Philippine embassies in Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon have readied contingency plans should conflict between Hamas and Israeli forces expand into other parts of the Middle East, Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said Sunday. 

In a news forum in Quezon City, De Vega said these plans include emergency and crisis response efforts in "volatile areas."

"War is never positive, but we have to take it that there's some welcome news or some positive news that so far we have not seen an escalation," he said.

The DFA, he added, has received information that the situation in the Middle Eastern country "appears to have started normalizing particularly in most Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv."

Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss previously said that its government is exerting all efforts "to ensure the safety of Filipinos who want to exit Gaza Strip."

"We will do everything we can in order to facilitate the safe exit of the Filipinos from Gaza," said Fluss.