Philippines says second national confirmed killed in Mideast war

The Middle East war has claimed its second Philippine victim, Manila said Tuesday, when a missile struck the home of a Filipina living in Israel. 

The woman was killed in the port city of Haifa on Sunday "alongside her Israeli husband and elderly parents-in-law", the foreign affairs department said, without naming the victims.

Israeli rescue services said Monday that the bodies of four people had been recovered from the rubble of a residential building in the city, after it was struck by an Iranian missile the previous day.

Israeli news outlets identified the Filipina victim's given name as Lucille-Jean, saying that she and her family had been pulled from the rubble of their collapsed residence following an hours-long rescue effort.

"The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv has informed the family 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 foreign affairs department said Tuesday.

Mary Ann Velasquez De Vera, a 32-year-old caregiver, became the war's first Philippine fatality on March 1 as she attempted to escort her elderly ward to an Israeli bomb shelter.

At least two million Filipinos who live in the Middle East have found themselves in the crossfire since the United States and Israel launched their attack on Iran on February 28.

Mostly guestworkers, the overseas Filipino worker community in the region sends billions of dollars in remittances home each year to families that depend on them as the primary breadwinners.

Thousands of Filipino sailors, meanwhile, have found themselves effectively trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, awaiting safe passage through the now-deadly shipping lane, which Iran has effectively bottlenecked.

The Philippines said last week that Iran had pledged to allow "the safe, unhindered, and expeditious passage through the Strait of Hormuz of Philippine-flagged vessels, energy sources, and all Filipino seafarers", though the timeline was unclear.

US President Donald Trump doubled down on Monday on a threat to wreck Iran's civilian infrastructure, warning that US forces could destroy bridge and power plants in the country and that a truce proposal from international mediators was not yet enough.