Philippines president calls situation in Gaza 'complicated'

The Philippines’ president on Friday said the situation in the Gaza Strip is complicated and they are facing problems evacuating their citizens.

Speaking to reporters in Manila, Ferdinand Marcos Jr Marcos said the situation became complicated because the Palestinian husbands of some Filipino women were not allowed to leave Gaza.

"Many of the Filipino women cannot decide whether to leave their husbands and children in Gaza, which has been under heavy bombardment and assault by the Israeli forces," he said, according to an official transcript.

"So these are the problems we are facing,” Marcos said.

However, he said that the Israeli government assured the Philippines that they would allow their citizens to cross the border into Egypt.

In separate news, a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force plane evacuated 46 people, including Japanese and other Asians, from Israel to Jordan.

"A KC-767 refueling and transport airplane carrying 46 evacuees, including 20 Japanese, 15 South Koreans, four Vietnamese and one Taiwanese, left Israel on Thursday night and is now heading for Japan," Tokyo-based Kyodo News said, citing the foreign and defense ministries.

This week, the Israeli army expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a cross-border attack against Israel on Oct. 7.

Nearly 10,600 people have been killed in the conflict, including 9,061 Palestinians and more than 1,538 Israelis.

Besides the large number of casualties and displacement, basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.