DFA’s MEast alert still up

Filipinos in the Middle East were advised on Wednesday to be alert as the world awaits Israel’s next move following Iran’s retaliatory strike over the weekend.

Israel is home to about 30,000 Filipinos while there are about 2,000 Filipinos in Iran.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed that Israel remains under Alert Level 2, which means the deployment as well as travel of Filipinos to the country is highly discouraged.

“The Philippine government confirms that its previous declaration of Alert Level 2 for the State of Israel, restricting further deployments of overseas Filipino workers there, remains in place,” the department said.

“The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to recommend that all non-essential travel from the Philippines to Israel be postponed indefinitely, or until such time that the situation has stabilized. If travel to Israel is necessary, Filipinos are advised to follow all precautions,” it added.

It further stated: “Furthermore, all Filipinos in the region are advised to be alert and updated with the security pronouncements of their host governments.”

For contingency planning purposes, the department said all Filipinos are encouraged to coordinate with their overseas community leaders and with Philippine embassies or consulates in their host countries.

Before this, Philippine Ambassador to Israel Pedro Laylo Jr. said he did not see the need to raise the alert level in the host country as it was able to successfully intercept Iran’s aerial attacks.

String of events

On Saturday, Iran launched hundreds of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles at Israel as part of its retaliatory strike following Israel’s deadly bombing of its consulate in Syria.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the attack included over 400 launches of 170 UAVs, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles, launched from Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.