Tokyo: A Palestinian man is demanding help from Japan and other members of the international community to save the lives of people in the besieged Gaza Strip, where many civilians have been killed by Israel’s bombings in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas militants.

“I believe the most important issue why all of this happening is the occupation” of 75 years, the man said in a recent online meeting with representatives of Peace Boat, a Japan-based international nongovernmental organization promoting peace and human rights that has a general consultative status with the United Nations. Tatsuya Yoshioka, founder and director of Peace Boat, provided Jiji Press with details of the meeting.

“No matter what Hamas did, it does not justify the incredible use of force,” not distinguishing civilians and military people, said the man in his 40s, a resident of Jerusalem. “Two million people (in Gaza) are now going to die. What is happening right now is just murder, killing people without mercy.”

Hamas, which effectively controls Gaza, caught Israel flat-footed on Oct. 7 in what one Israeli official said was the worst Hamas violence against civilians in Israel since the country’s establishment in 1948. Israel has since launched counterattacks with air strikes, with the number of victims in Gaza only increasing, before a looming full-scale ground invasion.

The man said the lack of support from international community was “shocking for us…Palestinians living under occupation.”

“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “We don’t need money. We need security. We need action on the ground, demonstrations…(to) spread all of what’s happening against us.”

Pointing to Japan’s experience of suffering the U.S. atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 in the closing days of World War II, he said: “You know what exactly I’m talking about. And we are afraid now we will have the same thing happening” to more than two million people in Gaza.

Yoshioka of Peace Boat said in an interview that the fundamental issue in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas is Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, but that this seems to be viewed as a story of the past. “The violence of Hamas is unforgivable, but it is clear that Israel is conducting effectively indiscriminate bombings (in Gaza),” he said.

Yoshioka sees a role for Japan to play to prevent an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“The Arab world views Japan differently from the way it sees the United States and European nations, he noted. “Japan has a measure of respect among Arabs. So there is room for Japan to play a mediating role in diplomacy” to end the violence, he said.

JIJI Press