Filipino in Israel hides in bomb shelter, survives Iran attack

Filipino workers (burred) assisted by the Philippine Embassy in Israel, which is locked in retaliatory missile attacks with Iran. (PH Embassy photo)

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Embassy in Israel has assisted a Filipino worker who survived a missile attack from Iran that hit residential houses at Marom Nave Park in Ramat Gan City on Saturday.

The female worker was inside a bomb shelter when the missile landed. She is temporarily staying at a hotel in Tel Aviv.

A Facebook post of the embassy before dawn Sunday said more assistance and psychosocial support will be provided in the coming days.

READ: Filipinos in Israel safe amid Iran tensions, says Israeli envoy

Included in the response team are Vice Consul Teri Bautista, Labor Attaché Rodolfo Gabasan, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Welfare Officer Karen Padduyao and other embassy staff.

The embassy reminded Filipinos to stay in bomb shelters/mamad/protected spaces each time there is a missile alert.

Philippine Ambassador to Israel Aileen Mendiola said a Crisis Management Team has been formed and prepositioned to provide relief goods, reactivate designated shelters and prepare for repatriation.

Strikes continue; 8 dead

The Anadolu news agency reported that Iranian missiles have struck multiple locations in central and northern Israel, killing eight people and injuring 208 others, Israeli media reported on early Sunday.

Around 50 rockets were fired at central Israel in the latest wave of Iranian attacks, according to Israeli Channel 12.

The rockets landed in the Bat Yam and Rehovot areas near Tel Aviv in central Israel, killing four people, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported.

READ: Iran fires back at Israel after strikes target nuclear facilities

Channel 12 reported that the attacks also left 195 people injured, five of them in critical condition. It said that approximately 35 people were missing after a missile hit a building in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv.

The Maariv newspaper said six sites were directly hit by Iranian missiles.

Weizmann Institute of Science, a research university founded in 1934 in the city of Rehovot by Chaim Weizmann, who later became Israel’s first president, was severely damaged in these strikes, according to other media reports.

Attacks on northern Israel

Meanwhile, four people were killed and 13 others were injured in strikes on northern Israel, according to Israeli media reports.

Several buildings and streets near Haifa, Tamra, and Krayot sustained “heavy damage” as a result of the missiles falling, Channel 12 reported.

Separately, the Israeli army said that it intercepted two drones north of the southern city of Eilat.

Earlier, the Israeli army said it is “operating to intercept missiles launched from Iran,” and that the military is “currently striking military targets in Tehran.”

In the early hours of Friday, Israeli forces attacked Iran, hitting nuclear and missile facilities and killing top military commanders and scientists. Iran responded with ballistic missiles targeting several areas across Israel. (PNA/Anadolu)