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03-11-2023
TOKYO: Japan’s Foreign Minister announced Thursday that she would meet with her Palestinian counterparts during her visits to Israel and Jordan and convey Japan’s willingness to continue to provide aid for the Palestinians.
Yoko Kamikawa, the minister, will also be meeting with Eli Cohen, the foreign minister of Israel, during her two-day visit starting on Friday, amid the escalation of the crisis in Gaza following Israel’s dual attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp and as foreigners, including Japanese nationals, began to depart.
“I hope to discuss how to respond to the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza region as well as directly communicate Japan’s readiness to continue providing aid,” Kamikawa said of her meeting with her Palestinian counterparts without specifying who she would meet.
Speaking to reporters before her departure, she acknowledged the Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp and that many civilians had been killed in the attack, Reuters reported.
“I understand the Israeli military has said the strike targeted Hamas operatives and relevant infrastructure,” she said. She did not comment further.
All 10 Japanese nationals and their eight Palestinian family members wishing to leave Gaza have evacuated to Egypt, Kamikawa said, adding that the evacuees were in good health.
She said Japan would remain in touch with one Japanese national living in Gaza who wished to remain there and did not evacuate.
Japan has announced sanctions against nine people and a company over their alleged links to the Palestinian armed group Hamas.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the measures would freeze assets belonging to individuals and a company that have helped fund Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
The sanctions follow the announcement of similar measures by the United States earlier this month.
Tokyo has attempted to walk a fine line on the Israel-Hamas war as it tries to balance relations with the US, its closest ally, and ties to energy-supplying partners in the Middle East.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has condemned Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel and called for the immediate release of the group’s captives, while expressing concern about civilian deaths in Gaza and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the enclave.
Hamas’s surprise attack killed at least 1,405 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 8,306 Palestinians, including more than 3,400 children, according to officials in Gaza. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
