THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assured that Filipinos living near the West Bank are safe, following escalating tensions sparked by Israel’s E1 settlement plan.
Speaking at the sidelines of the Korea-Asean Community of Policy Exchange on Friday, DFA Undersecretary Maria Theresa Dizon-De Vega told The Manila Times that, along with other government posts in the Middle East, there are timely advisories issued to Filipinos residing near the conflict area.
De Vega said the department will continue to work as a “one-country team” to safeguard Filipinos and provide necessary assistance.
On Thursday, the agency reaffirmed its support for Palestine’s right to self-determination, warning that Israel’s E1 settlement plan and rising settler violence in the West Bank violate international law and undermine a future Palestinian state.
“We note with alarm the efforts of the Israeli government to advance the E1 settlement plan as well as the continued rise of settler violence in the West Bank,” the DFA read.
“The Philippines views these actions, which may contravene international law, as detrimental to finding a just, lasting and comprehensive solution to the Middle East conflict,” it said.
The agency urged all parties “to desist from unilateral actions that erode the conditions for peace and undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state.”
The E1 settlement is an Israeli project to build thousands of housing units on a tract of land in the occupied West Bank east of Jerusalem, which threatens the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
