MANILA — Two Filipinos were injured amid the ongoing armed conflict in Israel, according to Consul General and Deputy Chief of Mission Anthony Mandap.
Mandap on Monday said one of the two injured Filipinos is a male who was shot by members of the Palestinian group Hamas while he was being rescued by the Israel Defense Forces from a shelter.
“I was just on the telephone today with one of those who were injured, he was shot while being rescued by the Israel Defense Forces from a shelter,” Mandap said in an interview on CNN Philippines’ New Day.
Mandap added that the other injured Filipino is a female who suffocated during a fire.
“Apparently, the attacker burned her house down. She and her employer were suffocated. It’s a good thing they were rushed to the hospital in time,” said Mandap.
“Those are the confirmed cases of injuries. There could be more so we’re still investigating this and [we’re] finding all possible contacts who might lead us to these individuals who might have been injured,” he said.
Mandap, in the same interview, confirmed that they have received unverified reports of Filipinos being abducted by the Hamas group.
He said they have yet to confirm these reports, but he noted the Philippine Embassy in Israel was able to talk to the wife of one of the supposed hostages.
Mandap said the wife confirmed that it was her husband that was in the circulating video.
“[B]ut we don’t want to leave it at that because we want to be certain before we make any categorical announcement,” he stressed.
“We continue to coordinate with [the] Israeli government, particularly Israeli Defense forces just so we can ascertain this as a fact. We are also in touch with relatives and friends. But then again, there [is] no clear confirmation from anyone about the veracity of these reports and we continue to investigate,” Mandap said.
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said five Filipinos remain unaccounted for.
“They are usually caregivers. One of them is male. We’re not giving complete details because their family might not want it to be publicized yet. The latest number is five Filipinos remain unaccounted for, but there are no casualties so far,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.
De Vega said they are still verifying if all five of these Filipinos are based in southern Israel.
“Because if they are from Tel Aviv, it is possible that it’s not connected to Hamas because Hamas entered from the southern border,” said De Vega.
De Vega likewise addressed circulating claims on social media that Filipinos were among held hostage by the Hamas group.
“We’d like the public to be careful because there are many circulating claims on social media. It’s possible that these are not even Filipinos. We want to give you only correct [information],” he stressed. (Charie Abarca © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
