14 Filipino evacuees from Gaza to arrive in PH on Feb. 21

A new batch of Filipino repatriates from Gaza Strip is set to arrive in the Philippines on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, according to the Philippine Embassy in Egypt.

The batch is composed of 14 Filipinos together with two Palestinian relatives, the embassy said.

The group, with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy in Egypt, crossed from Gaza through the Rafah border on February 17 amid the ongoing offensives by Israeli troops against Hamas militants.

"This latest batch of repatriates is scheduled to leave Cairo on 20 February 2024 and will arrive in Manila on 21 February 2024," the embassy said on Facebook.

"To date, 136 of the 137 Filipinos have been evacuated from Gaza to Egypt," it added. 

The evacuation is made possible through the joint efforts of the Philippine Embassies in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs - Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA). 

The violence in Gaza started following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally of Israeli official figures.

The Hamas militants also took about 250 people hostage, 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 who are presumed dead, according to Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 28,858 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. —KBK, GMA Integrated News