00:00 Twenty Filipinos from Gaza were supposed to cross to Egypt amid the war between Israel
00:04 and militant group Hamas yesterday, but it was postponed because of the rising tension
00:09 in the area.
00:10 "They were supposed to leave today, Sunday, but they suspended the movement of personnel
00:18 or foreign nationals from the border yesterday because of the, well, some supposedly Hamas
00:24 attacks occurring near the border.
00:26 Of course, the Hamas on the other hand blame the Israelis."
00:29 The 20 individuals will be the first batch of Filipino repatriates from Gaza after foreign
00:34 nationals were allowed to leave through the Rafa border, the crossing point between southern
00:39 Gaza and Egypt.
00:41 Once they cross the Rafa border on Monday, they are expected to arrive in the Philippines
00:45 by Thursday or Friday.
00:47 Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega explains, "Once Filipinos reach Egypt,
00:52 their transport visa will be processed.
00:54 They will then be picked up by the embassy to bring them to Cairo.
00:57 They will stay in Cairo for a night or two before flying to the Philippines."
01:02 Of the 136 Filipinos in Gaza, 115 signify their intent to go back to the Philippines,
01:09 but only 46 are willing to evacuate immediately as Israel prohibited their Palestinian spouses
01:14 and relatives to leave.
01:16 "A lot of them are having second thoughts about crossing because they don't want to
01:19 leave their husbands."
01:21 Two Filipino doctors, who are members of international humanitarian organization Doctors Without
01:26 Borders, recently left Gaza.
01:29 The Department of Foreign Affairs says embassies are ready if a mass evacuation is necessary
01:34 amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
01:37 Deniza Fernandez, CNN, Philippines.
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