Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku has been reported as saying Israel has targeted ambulances engaged in rescue operations in the Gaza Strip. He demanded that the Japanese government criticize Israel’s act for violating international law.

At a meeting of the House of Councilors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yamazoe referred to a report that the bodies of 15 humanitarian and medical personnel, including Palestine Red Crescent Society rescue workers, were discovered following an attack by Israeli troops.

Yamazoe demanded to know if the government regarded Israel’s act as a violation of international law.

Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi could only reply: “It is hard to evaluate the situation due to difficulty in fully obtaining the facts.”

Yamazoe said Israel admitted the killing of the 15 humanitarian workers was a mistake. He added that International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said international humanitarian law requires health and humanitarian workers to be protected.

The JCP lawmaker said the Japanese government still refuses to state that Israel’s attacks on rescue workers constitutes a violation of international law.

Yamazoe noted that the United Nations Children’s Fund and five other UN agencies have called on world leaders to take urgent action to swiftly realize a ceasefire in Gaza. He stressed that the Japanese government should summon the Israeli ambassador in Tokyo and lodge a protest against the nation’s outrageous actions.

The Israeli military’s large-scale ground operation in Gaza resumed on March 18 after the first of three phases of a ceasefire agreement ended.