G7 foreign ministers expected to issue joint call for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza

By AFP 8 November 2023, 5:32 am

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Clockwise from left to right: Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Italian Foreign Ministry's Director General for Political Affairs and International Security Pasquale Ferrara and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell are seated ahead of a working dinner, as part of their G7 foreign ministers' meetings in Tokyo on November 7, 2023. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/ Pool/AFP)

TOKYO — G7 foreign ministers are seeking to hammer out a common line on the Israel-Hamas war and signal to Russia that there will be no let-up in their support for Ukraine.

The ministers are expected to call in a joint statement for “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza, while stopping short of urging a ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, arriving in Japan for the talks from his latest whirlwind Middle East tour, called Tuesday for the G7 to speak “in one clear voice” on the conflict.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamiwaka said late Tuesday that the G7 ministers “need to call on the relevant countries to take humanitarian pauses and ensure humanitarian access, which is a pre-condition for sufficient and continued humanitarian assistance.”

A diplomatic source said after a working dinner the same day focusing on Gaza that there was “great unity that in view of the humanitarian emergency in Gaza, humanitarian care for the Palestinian civilian population needs to be urgently expanded.”

The source added that there were “constructive exchanges” about humanitarian pauses, as well as the need for discussions among the G7 and other countries in the region about the future of Gaza, and on how to stop the conflict spreading.