The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday, confirmed another death of a Filipino in Israel following the attack of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In a press briefing, Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega confirmed the death of a 49-year-old Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) from Negros Occidental.
“I regret to inform you that yes, it is confirmed there is a third Filipino casualty, a 49-year-old woman from Negros Occidental. Her family is aware. The President is aware," de Vega said.
The OFW, who was a caregiver, according to De Vega, was one of the attendees of a music festival that Hamas allegedly attacked.
“There was a musical festival there and there were a lot of people who were killed attending that music festival, which was usually held during the Sukkot, which is an Israeli holiday. What we understand, she is one of the attendees and a lot of people died there,” the Foreign Affairs secretary said.
De Vega stated that DNA testing was done on the deceased Filipino's body to verify her identification.
He also stressed the need for the testing as the bodies of those who were killed were mutilated or burned.
On the other hand, three Filipinos are still confirmed missing, but De Vega hopes that they will show up the following day.
"However, it doesn't mean that there's no hope because, as we said before, there were a lot more missing people a week ago, paonti ng pa paonti, so possibly it will still show up," he said.
Earlier, two Filipinos were confirmed dead in the said war, namely, Angeline Aguirre, who is a nurse, and Paul Vincent Castelvi, a caregiver.
On Thursday, the Philippines put Gaza under crisis alert level 3, while alert level 2 was raised in Israel.
DMW said that the Philippine government is working on the repatriation of the remaining Filipinos who died in the Hamas attack.
At least 30,000 Filipino workers reside in Israel, the majority of whom work as caregivers.
22 Filipinos, including 19 caregivers and three hotel employees, have so far asked to be repatriated, according to DMW.
