Embassy personnel process the travel documents of Filipinos from Gaza as they prepare for repatriation to the Philippines.

10 August 2014, Tel Aviv, State of Israel - The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, led by Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. Neal Imperial, facilitated the evacuation and repatriation of 21 Filipinos and their dependents from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, 7 August 2014.

With the assistance of the United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Israeli and Palestinian authorities, the group left Gaza via the Erez border crossing and were brought to the King Hussein – Allenby border where representatives from the Philippine Embassy in Amman, Jordan received them for repatriation to the Philippines.

This was the third group of Filipino families to leave the territory in the last month due to the ongoing armed conflict. So far, a total of 33 Filipinos and their dependents have been evacuated from Gaza.

Mr. Imperial exhorted the remaining Filipinos in Gaza to heed the Philippine Government's call for mandatory repatriation. "Alert Level 4 has been raised over the territory and we urge Filipinos in Gaza to avail of the Philippine Government's repatriation program. The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv remains ready to assist Filipinos in leaving the Gaza Strip," Mr. Imperial said. – END –