Pinoys trapped in Gaza

MANILA, Philippines — As Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza Strip and as the prospect of a ground invasion mounts, dozens of Filipinos trapped in the besieged Palestinian enclave have “no way in and no way out,” an official said, complicating calls for their voluntary repatriation.

“In Gaza, there’s no way out and no way in,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in Filipino in an interview on TeleRadyo Serbisyo.

Israeli authorities on Monday ordered the shutting off of electricity, water, food and fuel supplies in Gaza as Israel soldiers prepare for a ground campaign to flush out leaders and members of the Islamist group Hamas, which launched deadly attacks on the Jewish state, particularly in areas near the border with Gaza.

According to De Vega, the Philippine government is appealing to diplomatic contacts to allow or help 70 Filipinos leave Gaza. Many of them are spouses of Palestinians.

De Vega said the crisis alert in Gaza has been raised to Level 3, which allows voluntary repatriation.

The Philippine embassy in Jordan, which has jurisdiction over Gaza, recommended placing Gaza under Alert Level 3 on Tuesday.

Esty Buzgan, deputy chief of mission of the Israeli embassy in Manila, said Israel has no plan of lifting the blockade on Gaza.

“If we open, with what’s happening, we’re going to have more terrorists in Israel and we can’t allow that,” Buzgan said in an online media briefing.

“We have to make sure we don’t have any more breachers and we don’t have more terror attacks in our country,” she said. Two Filipinos were confirmed to have died in the violence in Israel.

The Philippines has condemned the killings and other acts of terrorism and violence sparked by Hamas attacks on Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to “wipe out” Hamas and said there is “no contradiction” between launching a ground offensive and rescuing hostages.

The Israeli military said it had hit more than 2,300 “Hamas targets” to date in response to Saturday’s deadly incursion by the militant group, while more than 4,500 rockets had been fired from Gaza.?

Israeli media reported that more than 1,000 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and at least