The death toll has surpassed 30,000. Food and medical treatment have dried up, and the humanitarian crisis is growing more severe. We want the negotiations to achieve a cease-fire and the war to end as soon as possible.
Tomorrow marks six months since the outbreak of fighting in the Palestinian territory of Gaza between Israeli forces and the Islamic organization Hamas.
Wartime destruction continues and there is concern it will spread. An Iranian Embassy building in Syria, Israel’s neighbor, sustained an aerial bombing on April 1, killing a general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as civilians. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the attack an Israeli crime, and vowed retaliation.*
We must absolutely prevent Iran, which supports Hamas, from entering the war. To this end, the war in Gaza must end swiftly.
The number of voices in the international community calling for a cease-fire is growing. In March, the U.N. Security Council adopted a new resolution seeking an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Fourteen of the 15 U.N. member nations approved the resolution. The U.S., which shelved four previous attempts at a cease-fire by exercising its right to veto, abstained from voting, giving tacit approval.
It seems that the U.S., a strong supporter of Israel, is being forced to see that the international community is turning a stern eye in its direction.
U.N. member nations are obligated to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions, but Israel has emphatically refused, persistently ignoring the resolutions. Without heeding criticism from the international community in the slightest, Israel is planning a ground invasion of Rafah in southernmost Gaza.
Approximately 1.5 million refugees, who no longer have anywhere else to go, are crowded into Rafah. An attack will place many of those refugees’ lives in danger.
The resumption of third-party negotiations by Egypt and other intermediaries aimed at achieving a cease-fire came into view just as the Rafah invasion drew near.
The proposed cease-fire stipulates suspending combat for six weeks, during which Hamas would release 40 hostages. Hamas is demanding a permanent armistice and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel says it will resume combat after the cease-fire expires. The gap between the two sides is deep.
We hope that the intermediary nations will negotiate tenaciously to save the lives of Gaza’s citizens. The United States, having cooperated with the international community to adopt the U.N. Security Council resolution, should take an even stronger position with respect to persuading Israel to agree to a cease-fire.
The decision by Hamas is also critical. If it wants to achieve a cease-fire, it should release the more than 100 hostages it is holding.
Israel has restricted supply routes into Gaza, and children are suffering from starvation and malnutrition. We hope that the international community will work even harder to improve the current situation.
Japan will resume sending funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which aids Palestinian refugees, including those in Gaza.
Shouldn’t the Japanese government also urge the U.S., UNRWA’s biggest donor, to resume donations as well? As an ally, Japan should work proactively to end the war.
*Editor’s Note: On April 13, Iran launched a drone attack on Israel, the first direct attack by Iran on Israel. There were no casualties from this event, although a 7-year-old Arab Bedouin girl sustained a serious head wound.
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