MANILA — The Philippine government will repatriate the first batch of Filipinos from Israel on October 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

At least 22 of the over 30,000 Filipinos currently in Israel have expressed their intention to go back to the Philippines following the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, according to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega.

“As for our kababayans in Israel, there are already some who have indicated that they want to go home – not because they were victimized by the war specifically but because indirectly, they lost a job or times are hard for them… for economic reasons therefore. Obviously aggravated by this conflict,” De Vega told Palace reporters.

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“The first batch at government’s expense will be leaving on October 16 – there are eight of them… And as they promised, once they arrived, they’ll be given the proper assistance, the usual reintegration and other assistance packages provided by the DMW and OWWA," he said.

The Philippine embassy in Tel-Aviv earlier said that apart from areas near the combat zone in southern Israel, the situation in Israel has largely stabilized.

The DFA also assured those who would be repatriated to receive reintegration and livelihood assistance from the government once they return to the Philippines.

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“The situation in Israel is not a big problem if it refers to the evacuation of nationals because the situation there is more stable and we’re ready to repatriate them and we don’t expect big numbers,” De Vega said.

At least 3 Filipinos have been killed because of the conflict, while 3 remain missing.

De Vega said President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. directed his agency and relevant Philippine embassies to look for the Pinoys still missing, saying they might just be hiding or in other countries in an attempt to flee the war.

Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people in Israel and took about 150 hostages in their surprise attack launched from Gaza on Saturday.

Israel retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming more than 1,400 lives.

Israel has prepared for a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian territory after what has been labelled Israel's 9/11.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse

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