35 Pinoys from Gaza set to arrive today

THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the first batch of Filipinos who have managed to exit war-torn Gaza Strip will arrive home today.

The first batch was originally composed of 40 Filipinos. However, “the latest word is that only 35 are traveling to the Philippines, plus one Palestinian spouse, for a total of 36,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega.

De Vega said the five others are not traveling to Manila because “three are family members who wish to stay in Egypt with the Egyptian husband,” while “two are a wife who is 38 weeks pregnant and cannot travel and her mother will stay with her; both are Philippine passport holders.”

Earlier, De Vega said Filipinos crossing to Egypt from Gaza cannot stay for long in Cairo because they have a limited transit visa. De Vega has also said the Israeli government gave its permission for the 136 Filipinos in Gaza to flee to safer grounds through the Rafah crossing to Egypt.

Last week, two Filipino doctors who are volunteers of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders exited Gaza.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt was closed Wednesday due to an unspecified “security circumstance” but US officials were working with Egypt and Israel to get it reopened, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

Rafah, which is controlled by Egypt and does not border Israel, is the only point of aid delivery since Israel launched a military assault and siege of Gaza in retaliation for an attack by Hamas militants from the coastal strip on Oct. 7.

Evacuations of foreign passport holders through the crossing were suspended on Saturday and Sunday after an Israeli strike on an ambulance that was heading to Rafah, but the crossing was open again on Monday and Tuesday.

“Our understanding is that given a security circumstance the Rafah border crossing remains closed today,” Patel said during a regular press briefing in Washington.

The United States expects the Egypt-controlled crossing will be reopened at “regular intervals” so that aid can enter the Gaza Strip and foreign nationals can continue to depart, Patel said.

More than 400 US citizens, family members and permanent residents have