The Philippines has asked Israel to allow a large group of Filipino workers to flee Lebanon through a naval blockade imposed by the Israelis on their northern neighbor, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos said yesterday.

Israeli jets have been bombing bridges north of Beirut to cut off Hezbollah supply and withdrawal lines, all but shutting off the traditional land evacuation route taken so far by more than 2,000 Filipinos who drove across the Syrian border.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday made an urgent appeal for 30,000 compatriots working in Lebanon to flee, warning the conflict there was set to escalate.

In a statement, Conejos said that Manila was seeking to evacuate more Filipinos to Cyprus by sea from Beirut, and had asked the blockading Israeli Navy for permission.

A Filipino shipping firm had agreed to provide transport for the short hop to Cyprus, he added.

"As of last night a total of 2,652 overseas Filipino workers arrived (in the Philippines) using the land route to Syria. We have also activated the Cyprus route," Conejos said.

He said the Philippine authorities were also considering using a sea evacuation route from Beirut that would take the Filipinos to the Turkish port of Mercin or Alexandria in Egypt.