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The Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said the evacuation of some 20 Filipinos from strife-torn Gaza will be delayed following spate of attacks along the route to the Egyptian border.
DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the 20 Filipinos along with other foreign nationals should have exited through the Rafah crossing border this weekend, but a spate of attacks foiled this plan. De Vega said 115 Filipinos initially wanted to cross the Rafah border, but some of them backed out upon knowing that they could not bring their Palestinian relatives or spouses with them.
Nonetheless, De Vega said he hoped that Filipinos would take advantage of the opening of the Egyptian border. He said the evacuation was suspended “after the bombing of ambulances transporting injured people who were on their way to the Egyptian terminal.” The Hamas-run health ministry says air, land and sea attacks on Gaza have killed nearly 9,500 Palestinians.
In a video taken from Israel’s Sderot along the border with the Gaza Strip, an Israeli flag was seen raised on top of a destroyed building. Leaflets dropped by the army again urged Gaza City residents to evacuate south between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. , a day after a US official said at least 350,000 civilians remained in and around the city that is now an urban war zone.
A military spokesperson said they were looking into whether their forces had been operating in the area at the time of the bombing. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, whose country has been acting as the sole conduit for foreigners to escape the Gaza Strip and for aid to get in, called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire.”
In Tel Aviv, several thousand took to the streets, including relatives and friends of some of the hostages, chanting: “Bring them home now.”
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