Israeli envoy says no confirmation yet on kidnapped Filipinos
Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss on Sunday said they have not received information on reports that several Filipinos have been kidnapped in Israel amid the fighting with the militant Hamas group.
“We are still in emergency situation. Things have not yet stabilized. We don’t have enough information yet on identities and names of the people that were killed, injured, and kidnapped,” the Israeli ambassador said in a media briefing.
“We treat them (Filipinos) like any other Israeli national and we try to protect them as well as we try to protect our Israeli citizens,” he added.
According to Fluss, there are about 30,000 Filipinos in Israel.
“I heard about a report of Philippine nationals but we don’t have at this stage any confirmation regarding Philippine nationals. We know the Thai nationals involved but we are not aware of Philippine nationals,” the envoy shared.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said on X (formerly Twitter) that the “Department of Foreign Affairs is monitoring the situation of Filipinos in the Middle East.”
A statement from the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines said that the “massive terror attacks” over the weekend caused more than 250 Israeli casualties, more than 1,600 injured, and more than 100 Israelis have been kidnaped and captured as hostages in Gaza.
“Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel. The terrorist organization entered our cities and residential homes targeting innocent Israeli citizens including elderly people, women, and children,” it added.
The surprise rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive was initiated by Hamas from the Gaza Strip. DMS
