SEN. Maria Josefa Imelda “Imee” Marcos is worried that some Filipino seafarers would end up as “collateral damage” in the IsraeliHamas war as Yemeni rebels sympathetic to Hamas militants seized an Israeli-owned cargo ship with Filipino workers onboard.

The senator on Monday pressed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Migrant Workers to negotiate the release of the Filipino seafarers hostaged by Houthi rebels in Yemen as the Israeli-Hamas conflict expands beyond the Gaza Strip.

Marcos said that Filipino seafarers were again among the hostages in a hijacking incident on Sunday, November 26, in the Middle East, a week after Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship.

She was referring to the Central Park tanker carrying phosphoric acid, which was briefly seized in the Gulf of Aden by gunmen who fled when a US warship, USS Mason, responded to the ship’s distress call.

The Zodiac Maritime, which operates the ship, said that the vessel’s crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam were “unharmed.”

The DFA had confirmed that 17 Filipinos were among those held hostage in the hijacking of a cargo vessel in the Red Sea on November 19.

Reports from the Associated Press cited Yemen’s Houthi rebels as saying that they hijacked the vessel over its connection to Israel and that “all ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets.”

Marcos said Filipino seafarers now face higher risks as Israel’s bombing of Gazacould draw in more militant groups seeking to avenge the deaths of thousands of Palestinians.

Filipino seafarers comprise 25 percent of those employed in the global maritime industry, with almost half a million serving on cargo and cruise ships.

“There’s no end in sight to this conflict, and more Filipino seafarers could become collateral damage. The truce to release hostages on both sides is temporary,” Marcos said in a statement.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations warned that the pro-Palestinian Houthi rebels have threatened to target more ships with links to Israel.

Marcos urged the DFA to take great care of its diplomatic positions, especially as a member of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The Philippines’ abstention from a UNGA resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in Israel’s attacks in Gaza “has not gone unnoticed” among Arab nations and could affect future negotiations on the release of Filipino hostages, she said.

“Our alliance with the United States and its foreign policies in the ongoing conflict complicate our own. But Filipino interests come first and must be upheld,” Marcos said.