Top diplomats from the Group of Seven (G7) have called for “humanitarian pauses” in Israel’s bombardment in order to deliver aid to desperate Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip,
Al Jazeera reports.
The foreign ministers from the leading industrial democracies announced on Wednesday that they have agreed upon a unified stance on the Israel-Hamas war, following intensive meetings in Tokyo.
They released a statement that condemned Hamas and supported Israel’s right to self-defence but called for humanitarian pauses in Israel’s shelling of Gaza.
The G7 statement sought to balance criticism of Hamas’s attacks and support for Israel with a push for “urgent action” to help civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave, who are in desperate need of food, water, medical care and shelter.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy emphasised that they “support humanitarian pauses to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement and release of hostages”.
There was also condemnation of “the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians”, which the ministers said is “unacceptable, undermines security in the West Bank, and threatens prospects for a lasting peace”.
At least 154 Palestinians have been killed and 2,150 arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war broke out a month ago, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
As the diplomats met in central Tokyo, a United Nations agency said thousands of Palestinians are fleeing south on foot in Gaza with only what they can carry after running out of food and water in the north.
