Skip to main content

Antony Blinken Calls For G7 "Clear Voice" On Israel-Hamas War

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Tuesday on the G7 to speak "in a clear voice" about the Israel-Hamas war as he kicked off talks with fellow foreign ministers from the grouping in Japan.

"This is a very important moment... for the G7 to come together in the face of this crisis and speak as we do in one clear voice," Blinken said at the start of the two-day meeting in Tokyo.

The Israeli military has relentlessly bombarded Gaza since October 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack that left 1,400 dead in Israel, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

The Hamas-run health ministry said the death number in Gaza has surpassed 10,000 people -- including more than 4,000 children.

Arriving in Tokyo following his latest whirlwind tour of the Middle East, Blinken was set to "brief his counterparts on his trip... and progress on delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza and efforts to contain the conflict," a senior State Department official said.

In Turkey on Monday, Blinken had said Washington was working "very aggressively" to expand aid for trapped civilians.

"I think we will see in the days ahead that the assistance can expand in significant ways," Blinken added, without providing details.

A key ally of Israel, the United States has resisted calling for a ceasefire, insisting that Israel has the right to respond -- though Washington has called for pauses in the fighting.

US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed potential "tactical pauses," the White House said. But no agreements were announced and the pair did not broach the possibility of a ceasefire.

Netanyahu on Monday said the war would continue until Israel had restored "overall security" control of Gaza.

France was the only G7 member to vote in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution last month seeking an immediate "humanitarian truce".

The United States voted against it while Japan, Britain, Italy, Germany and Canada all abstained.

France said in a statement announcing Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna's attendance in Tokyo that the G7 would discuss "the need to respond to the needs of civilian populations in Gaza and to respect international humanitarian law."

Colonna "will reiterate our condemnation of the terrorist actions of Hamas and the imperative of releasing the hostages," the statement added.

Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa said at the start of a working dinner devoted to the Gaza situation that she wanted a "candid and deep discussion".

Ukraine War

Another major topic at G7 will be the Ukraine war, with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba set to join by video conference.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after arriving in Tokyo that the G7 would discuss a "winter protection shield" for Ukraine.

"It is clear, particularly at this moment, that some (parties) are watching very closely how we will continue to support Ukraine," Baerbock told reporters.

Analysts said however that the G7 might moderate its language regarding China as tentative signs emerge that Beijing's tensions with the West may be easing.

These include upcoming talks between the United States and China ahead of the COP28 climate conference and President Xi Jinping's scheduled meeting with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco.

Another G7 topic will be deepening ties with resource-rich and strategically located Central Asia, with foreign ministers from the region set also to join by video.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/E0qJYCm
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

US Power Firm Admits It May Have Sparked Texas' Largest Wildfire Ever

A US power company admitted Thursday that its equipment may have sparked the largest wildfire in Texas' history. Xcel -- the parent of Southwest Public Service Company, which provides electricity to part of the state -- said it was working with officials investigating the cause of the blaze that charred more than a million acres (over 400,000 hectares). "Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire," the company said. Hundreds of homes are thought to have been destroyed in the fire, which is known to have killed at least two people and over 3,000 farm animals. Xcel, which is facing at least one lawsuit, denied its equipment was improperly maintained. "However, we encourage people who had property destroyed by, or livestock lost in, the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process," the statement said. The W
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Official, Kamala Harris Is Democratic Candidate For US Election

US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party's presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November's showdown against Republican Donald Trump. Kamala Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month. "I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Kamala Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote. In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris has gained full control of the party. No other Democrats stepped forward to challenge her elevation to the top of the ticket, making her confirmation as the first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party's nomination a formality. The a
Post a Comment
Read more

All You Need To Know About Donald Trump's 1st Criminal Trial

Donald Trump goes on trial Monday for allegedly covering up hush money payments to hide affairs ahead of the 2016 presidential election which propelled him into the White House. He will become the first former US president to go on criminal trial when jury selection begins next week. Here are the key questions ahead of the landmark trial: What is Trump accused of? As Trump closed in on victory in the 2016 presidential election, adult film star Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual tryst with Trump. The payments, made by Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, were revealed by The Wall Street Journal in January 2018. Prosecutors have seized on the concealment of the payments as "legal fees" in the Trump Organization's accounts when Cohen was reimbursed as the heart of their case. Prosecutors say Trump "concealed the reason for these payments... which clearly were paid in order to influence voters," former prosec
Post a Comment
Read more