Last Filipino in Gaza, a 63-Year-Old Nun, is Reported Safe

Jerusalem, 20 February, 2024 (TPS) -- MANILA, Feb. 20, 2024 (PNA)
The last remaining Filipino national in the Gaza Strip, a 63-year-old nun, was reported safem the Philippine Embassy in Jordan said on Tuesday.

The nun from the Missionaries of Charity Sisters of Saint Teresa is the last Filipino in the Strip after authorities extracted 14 nationals on Saturday.

“We received information that the church where the Filipino nun is staying in Gaza City is still standing and holding masses for the parishioners,” Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Wilfredo Santos said in a text message.

“Although we have not established contact with her — the church’s landline appears to have been disabled — indications are that the Filipino nun is safe but has decided to remain in Gaza to complete her mission,” he added.

Santos earlier disclosed that the embassy has not spoken to the nun since early December.

The church was also reportedly hit by sniper fire.

The Philippine government has evacuated 136 Filipinos in Gaza since the war between Hamas and Israel began last year and the border crossing in Rafah first opened in November.

The last batch of Filipino repatriates is expected to arrive in the Philippines on Wednesday.

At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead.