DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                 2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                               Tel. No. 834-4000 

SFA-AGR-488-05                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       15 July 2005

NO FILIPINOS HARMED IN TERRORIST BOMBINGS THAT HIT TEL AVIV AND BEIRUT

15 July 2005 – Chargé d’Affaires a.i. (CDA) of the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel Uriel Norman R. Garibay reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that they regularly communicate with Israeli authorities and the Filipino community in Israel to ascertain that  indeed no Filipinos were harmed in the blast that took place in a shopping mall in the Israeli city of Netanya on 12 July 2005.

CDA Garibay said that the Philippine Embassy has verified with the emergency hotline that there was no Filipino casualty in the blast.   In addition to this action, the Embassy is  coordinating with hospitals and members of the Filipino community to ensure that no Filipino was killed or injured by the blast that official reports say claimed the lives of three people and wounded at least 70 others.

According to the Embassy’s report, Tuesday’s suicide bombing was carried out by a member of the group known as Islamic Jihad.  The blast occurred outside the crowded Sharon Shopping Mall in Netanya, a city 30 kilometers north of the capital Tel Aviv, during the afternoon rush hour of 12 July (Israel time).

According to CDA Garibay, this incident marked the second suicide bombing since the declaration of a truce between Israel and the Palestine during the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit in early February 2005.  The first bombing occurred on 25 February outside the Stage Nightclub in Tel Aviv that killed five people and wounded 52 others.

In the light of this incident, the Philippine Embassy cautions Filipinos in Israel to avoid as much as possible crowded areas such as malls.

Meanwhile, CDA Nestor N. Padalhin of the Philippine Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon also reported to the DFA that there are likewise no Filipino casualties in a car bomb that exploded on 12 July 2005 in Beirut.

CDA Padalhin informed the Department that the target of the bombing appears to be outgoing Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Gurr who was wounded in the attack.  His aide was killed while the wife of the Mexican Ambassador to Lebanon was one of the wounded.  END
 
 

/jay