8th batch of repatriates from Israel set to arrive Friday, DMW says

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced Friday that another batch of Filipino repatriates from Israel is expected to arrive today. 

The DMW said this will be the 8th batch of repatriates from Israel which is composed of 32 Filipinos. 

This will bring the total number of repatriated individuals from Israel to 264, according to DMW officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac. 

Meanwhile, Cacdac also said that three more repatriates will also arrive from Lebanon, bringing the total to 31. That's as 150 Filipinos in Lebanon are still waiting for their documents to be processed.

“Kasi nga (because)… it takes a little longer in Lebanon due to the immigration concerns of some of our kababayans (countrymen) there,” Cacdac said.

Alert Level 2 remains over Israel after the October 7 attack of the militant group Hamas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Alert Level entails restriction of non-essential movements, avoiding places of protest, and preparation for possible evacuation.

Meanwhile, UN human rights chief Volker Turk previously highlighted allegations of serious rights violations in the Israel-Hamas war that he said needed "full accountability."

For its part, Israeli ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar harshly criticized UN attempts to balance criticism about violations, insisting that international law was "not a suicide pact." Shahar said terrorist organizations will be more emboldened “if a state cannot defend itself.”

Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, meanwhile, flatly rejected that view, saying that what is happening is a “genocide” and that the problem “started 75 years ago.”  —Joahna Lei Casilao/ VAL, GMA Integrated News