Evacuation operation in Lebanon was temporarily suspended after Israeli forces bombed the escape routes being used by overseas Filipino workers, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.

Some 300 Filipinos who were supposed to arrive in Manila on Sunday were not allowed by the International Organization of Migration to board the buses that will take them to Damascus, Syria, said Esteban Conejos, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs.

"They were about to leave but the route going to Syria was bombed. The flight back to Manila on Sunday was canceled. There will be no movement of Filipinos until further notice," Conejos told reporters.

He said four bridges linking Beirut to the northern cities of Tripoli and Junia were bombed Friday and may no longer be accessible.

Conejos also said DFA Undersecretary for Special Concerns, who oversees the departure of evacuated Filipinos from Damascus to Manila, was sent to the Lebanese-Syrian border to check if the route is still passable.

The Philippine embassy officials and staff begun contacting all Filipino workers in Lebanon after President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo ordered mass evacuation on August 1, Conejos said, adding that they expect around 10,000 Filipinos in the relocation sites in seven to eight days.

Source: Xinhua