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Israel vows aid for family of slain in Middle East

Israel Ambassador in Manila Dana Kursh vows that the family of Mary Ann Velasquez de Vera, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who died in Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, will be given financial assistance. Speaking at the launch of a women’s health center in Rizal Medical Center on Tuesday, Kursh told _The Manila Times_ that the financial assistance will cover De Vera’s parents, siblings, and husband. The ambassador assured the family that they would be supported through Israel’s established procedures for victims of war and terrorism.

VIDEO BY ALLEN LIMOS

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Transcript
00:00And thank you for asking this question. As I mentioned, Michelle, or her full name, Maryam Rivera, is part and
00:06parcel of Israel, and her family are part of the parcel of Israel, not just of the Philippines.
00:11See, she is an OFW that selflessly sacrificed her own security to their elderly that she was taking care of,
00:21and was hit by Iranian missiles, and unfortunately lost her life.
00:26So once that is happening, the Israeli government is automatically deciding that a family will be considered a casualty of
00:36war, or a casualty of terrorist attacks.
00:39And we don't see any distinction between Israelis or OFWs or others that have been in Israel when this attack
00:49has happened.
00:49So she will get all her family, her parents, and her siblings. She has one sibling in Qatar who came
00:58for now for the wake, and they will be taking care of their regulation, and of course the husband early
01:06as well.
01:07I don't want to go into the specific details, because there is a bureaucratic procedure, but they will get retroactively
01:15from the 28th of February, from the day she lost her life.
01:18It was the 28th in Israel. It was already the 1st of March here, as you remember, President Trump was,
01:24and they announced it in the morning, because there is six hours gap between Israel and the Philippines.
01:28I think that's what's important for us. Unfortunately, Marianne, Devera, Michelle is the sixth casualty of this war. It's an
01:37ongoing war from October 7th, 2023.
01:41So, there had been four that were brutally killed by the Hamas terrorist organization on the 7th of October, 2023,
01:50and afterwards, Miss Lila Mouskera was killed in the operation that called Rising Lion in June of 2025, and she
02:00was killed by another Iranian missile, and she was badly wounded, and after less than a month, she lost her
02:07life.
02:08Hi, it is the second time I'm in Pancasinan, and the first time I met the family of Anjali, and
02:17unfortunately now I had to go again.
02:20I went together with the governor, another leader, another amazing Filipino leader that shows so much compassion for FWs, and
02:29I think I would like to salute the Filipino government from the president,
02:36and, of course, two entities that are working night and day and day and night to save lives of all
02:42peoples in the Middle East.
02:44There are more than two millions in the Middle East. So, the BLW, under the leadership of Secretary Hans Stagbeck,
02:50and the administrator of OAPY are really angels.
02:55They are trying to bring back home the people who want to repatriate. I'm probably saying that from Israel, just
03:03a few months to repatriate because they feel safe, safe enough in Israel because they feel that they are part
03:08and parcel of Israel as well.
03:10But we are committed for these six families, and God forbid there will be any more OFWs that are being
03:18convicted, or God forbid any more Israelis.
03:20I think in the last 24 hours, there was an OFW that was hit, but was wounded, and already released
03:28from hospital.
03:29So, thank God he was also taken care of by, of course, by your Filipino embassy, and by Pastor Alin
03:35in Israel, and her team, but the partnership between Israel and the Philippines is based on resiliency.
03:44We will endure together this space of pain, of the tragedy of losing lives, and God willing will be able
03:51to dedicate and focus on health issues, and on how do we better the life of humankind at large, and
03:57women's health in the future.
03:58And not dealing with war, unfortunately.
04:30I have a lot of work.
04:31I have a lot of work.
04:34I have a lot of work.
04:35I have a lot of work.
04:36I have a lot of work.
04:36I have a lot of work.
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