A Filipino caregiver was killed in the Iranian missile attack on Tel Aviv, the first casualty in Israel in the war with Iran, the Philippine Embassy in Israel said on Sunday.
Mary Ann V. de Vera, 32, was killed in the Saturday night attack in Tel Aviv when the missile slammed into a residential block.
She had been working in Israel since 2019.
According to a military investigation, the caregiver was unable to evacuate to a nearby public shelter in time. The elderly woman she was caring for was extracted by rescue workers from the rubble.
“Mary Ann was injured while selflessly assisting her patient to safety,” the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines said in a statement. “A stark reminder that the Iranian regime continues to sow terror indiscriminately, targeting civilians without distinction.”
The news of the Filipino national’s death was announced by the Philippines’ President Bongbong Marcos.
Her identity was confirmed through biometric records at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where her husband, who also works in Israel, identified her remains, the embassy said.
The Philippines Ambassador to Israel, Aileen Mendiola, called the victim’s husband to express condolences and assure him of governmental assistance.
Twenty-six thousand Filipino caregivers work in Israel.
In her final post on Facebook on Saturday, De Vera wrote of the incoming missile attacks, “every minute it’s exhausting running to the shelter” with emojis of missiles.
“It appears the news about Ayatollah Khamenei is true,” she added, referring to the Iranian supreme leader killed in an Israeli strike. “Free Iran.”
