Twenty Filipinos will be leaving Gaza on Sunday as part of the first batch of 43 who want to return to the Philippines, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said Saturday.

But the Israeli government said no Palestinian spouses or relatives among 126 Filipinos who were cleared will leave, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ed de Vega told the Saturday News Forum.

''No Palestinian national among the Filipinos, meaning to say, the relatives of the Filipinos, wala—no spouses are going to accompany them, they don’t have the clearance to leave Gaza,'' said de Vega.

De Vega said due to this development '' we’re not certain how many of the Filipinos will be wanting to leave although they may already start to leave.''

The Philippines declared the mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Gaza as fighting between Israel and Hamas escalated since conflict erupted on October 7.

The second batch had 23 who signed up but De Vega said they expect more to join.

De Vega said once they reach Egypt, ''they will be processed, they will be picked up by our embassy in Cairo.''

''We’ll bring them to Cairo and within 72 hours, they will be required to leave because it’s only a transit visa they’ll be getting,'' said de Vega. DMS