ISTANBUL

Japan warned Israel on Monday of “new measures and a response” if Tel Aviv blocks a path to the realization of a two-state solution in Palestine.

“Japan fully supports the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state,” Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at a UN conference on Palestine in New York.

“Should Israel take further actions that block the path to the realization of a two-state solution, Japan will be compelled to introduce new measures and a response,” Iwaya warned.

So far, Tokyo has resisted domestic pressure and international calls to join other states, including neighboring Australia, in recognizing an independent State of Palestine.

“Japan has consistently supported a two-state solution,” said Iwaya. “For my country,” he stressed, “the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state is not a matter of if but when.”

Tokyo’s refusal to join other states at the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestine came amid reports that the US was pressuring Japan against the move.

While carefully monitoring developments in the region, Iwaya told the conference, “Japan will continue its comprehensive deliberations with even greater seriousness.”

“Above all, what matters most is that Palestine can exist in a sustainable manner, living side by side in peace with Israel,” he said. “Japan will continue to play a realistic and proactive role in advancing towards the goal of a two-state solution, even by a single step.”

While recalling “tangible contributions” made by Japan, viz-a-viz developments and reconstruction in the West Bank, Iwaya said: “The situation has reached a grave and alarming juncture that threatens the very foundation of a two-state solution.”

“The sharp deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the expansion of settlement activities in the West Bank and the step towards annexation are completely unacceptable,” he said. “Japan strongly condemns these actions and calls on Israel to immediately cease all such unilateral measures.”

For the first time, Japan last July imposed sanctions on four Israeli settlers due to their involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The conference on Palestine is being held one day before the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, and days after UN investigators concluded that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, where more than 65,300 victims have been killed since October 2023.

Israel has also killed 249 Palestinian journalists in the besieged coastal enclave since then, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.