The Manila Times
(UPDATE) ANOTHER Filipino was killed in a missile attack in Israel, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday. The Filipina, her husband, and her elderly in-laws were killed in a missile attack on a residence in Haifa, Israel, on April 5, the DFA said. The Israeli embassy in Manila identified the fatalities as Lucille Jean Gershovich, 29, her husband Dima Gershovich, and elderly in-laws Vladimir Gershovich and Lena Ostrovsky. “The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv has informed the [victim’s] family [in the Philippines] and is providing all necessary assistance, including arrangements for the earliest possible repatriation of her remains despite the current travel situation in the region,” the DFA said. The department said it has reached out to support the victim’s family during this difficult time. “The family requests privacy at this difficult time to grieve in peace,” it added. “We join the Filipino community in praying for her eternal rest and for strength for her family during this time of profound loss,” the DFA said. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday extended his deepest sympathies to Lucille Jean’s family. “Our condolences to the family of our countryman who lost her life in the missile attack in Haifa, Israel. We are one in grieving with her family in the midst of a tragedy no one should have to go through,” Marcos said in Filipino in a statement posted on X. “I have directed our agencies to extend full assistance to the family and to ensure the immediate repatriation of her remains. Our embassy is on standby by to provide all necessary assistance,” he added. Israeli news outlets reported that Lucille Jean and her family were pulled from the rubble of their collapsed residence following hours of an intense search and rescue operation. “We continue to monitor the situation in the region. The safety of every Filipino is our top priority. The whole community joins in their grief. May they find strength and comfort in the midst of this tragedy,” Marcos said. Gershovich is the second Filipino killed in a missile attack in Israel since hostilities in the Middle East broke out on Feb. 28. Filipina caregiver Mary Ann de Vera, 32, perished from bomb shrapnel from an Iranian missile strike while she and her patient were evacuating to a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv on the first day of the war. Israel, through its embassy in Manila, said it mourned Lucille’s death. In a statement on Tuesday, the embassy expressed its “deepest condolences following the tragic loss of four members of a family, including a young Filipino woman who chose to build her life with her husband in Israel, in an Iranian missile strike on Haifa on the evening of April 5.” Dima and Lucille were married in April 2024, the embassy said. “Two generations of one family were killed in this attack, another stark reminder that the Iranian regime continues to target civilians indiscriminately,” the embassy said. It also said that Israel “stands in profound solidarity with the bereaved family and the Filipino community, and shares in the grief over the loss of a Filipino life.” “We mourn together and honor their memory with dignity. Lucille’s family has asked that their privacy be respected as they observe this period of mourning,” it added.
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