Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa plans to visit Israel and Jordan on Nov. 2-5, government and ruling party officials said Thursday.

Kamikawa hopes to urge both Israel and Palestine to take steps to end their conflict as soon as possible.

If the visit is realized, Kamikawa will become the first Japanese minister to visit Israel since the surprise attack by the Islamic group Hamas, which effectively controls the Gaza Strip, earlier this month.

Kamikawa’s planned visit comes ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major economies in Tokyo on Nov. 7-8.

She is expected to hold talks with key Israeli government officials in Tel Aviv on Nov. 3 and with key officials of the Palestinian Authority and Jordan in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Nov. 4.

Kamikawa is slated to tell the Jordanian officials of Japan’s gratitude for allowing Japanese Self-Defense Forces aircraft to stay in Jordan in preparation for the evacuation of Japanese nationals.

Kamikawa’s schedule may change depending on Israel’s envisaged ground invasion of Gaza.

At a meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, Iwao Horii, Japanese state minister for foreign affairs, and Israeli

Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen agreed on the importance of continuing to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

JIJI Press