Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to a population of over 1 million in northern Gaza and Gaza City to seek refuge in the south ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion, Friday, October 13, 2023. - AP
MANILA (Philippines Daily Inquirer/ANN): The Philippine government is raising its crisis warning in Gaza to Alert Level 4, making the evacuation of Filipinos in the area mandatory.
“Gaza is now on Alert Level 4, Filipinos must leave,” said Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega in an interview over TeleRadyo.
The Philippine government said 137 Filipinos in Gaza have asked to return to the Philippines as the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated since October 7.
The Israeli military said Saturday, October 14, that its forces were preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans as expectations grew of an imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip, a week after Hamas gunmen launched a devastating attack on Israel.
Israel earlier called on Palestinians to evacuate. The Israeli military claimed “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians had heeded the warning and headed south. The evacuation call covers an area of 1.1 million residents or about half the territory’s population.
But Palestinians struggled Saturday to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military as they also grappled with worsening water and medical supply shortages.
World leaders urged concerned parties to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza. - Philippines Daily Inquirer/ANN
