THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday directed the mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in Gaza amid the deteriorating situation there due to the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In a statement, the DFA said it has placed Gaza under Alert Level 4, which means mandatory repatriation.

”The Philippine Government has accounted for 131 of our nationals in Gaza, and at least 78 of them are now situated near the Rafah border crossing near Egypt. All the rest have left northern Gaza, or Gaza City, which is expected to be the main site for hostilities,” the DFA said.

It added that the government ”continues to work on the repatriation of our nationals and will provide updates on developments.”

The DFA’s statement comes after Israel warned Palestinians on Saturday to get out of the northern Gaza Strip before an expected large-scale ground offensive against Hamas, one week after the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

Troops, tanks and heavy weaponry were massed at the border in anticipation of strikes against leaders of the Islamist group, whose fighters gunned down, stabbed and burned to death over 1,300 people after breaking through the heavily fortified border.

On the Gazan side, health officials said more than 2,200 people had been killed — most of them civilians, as on the Israeli side — as concerns grew about the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave as food, fuel supplies and medicines ran low.

The Israeli military has been pounding the besieged territory with thousands of missiles since last Saturday’s deadly dawn raid, which has been likened to the 9/11 attacks in the United States. 

with a report from Agence France Presse