"No to the forced displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza, neither now nor after the war. No to the use of Gaza as a terrorist platform. No to the reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. No to the blockade and no to territorial reduction of Gaza". The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, spoke with unusual clarity this Wednesday in Tokyo, within the framework of the first meeting of G7 foreign ministers since the war began.
Shortly before, the group's statement had called for a "humanitarian pause", when ten thousand Palestinian deaths have been exceeded in one month, due to Israel's mostly aerial retaliation against the Hamas raid. The claim does not amount to a ceasefire and does not go much further than Israeli Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu's resignation that the guns can remain silent for "an hour here or there," as he said in an interview on Monday. television.
The G7, in any case, hopes that the recess is enough to establish a safe corridor, allowing the immediate entry of essential aid. "Gaza cannot continue to be governed by Hamas, because it would open the doors to another October 7," Blinken asserted. "But it is also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza," he added, even leaving the door open to a transition period.
The G7 foreign ministers have also condemned the "terrorist" actions of Hamas and have called for "the immediate release of the hostages." It was not guaranteed that the members of the Group of Seven (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) would be able to agree on a position, given the different sensitivities. The Japanese Foreign Minister and host, Yoko Kamikawa, has recognized "the extraordinary candor" and "intensity" with which her counterparts asserted her points of view during dinner yesterday and this Wednesday.
Japan, the country that holds the current presidency of the G7, has been much more cautious in the last month than the rest of the countries in the group, focused on supporting Israel. The Japanese government initially resisted even labeling Hamas as terrorist. It should be remembered that other Asian countries the size of Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Malaysia do not even recognize Israel, while they have dealings with Hamas, as do Turkey or Russia.
Likewise, in mid-October, Tokyo voted in favor of a humanitarian pause in the UN Security Council, along with France. Although he abstained a few days later in the vote in favor of an immediate ceasefire, which the US opposed and which again had the support of Paris.
Inevitably, G7 foreign ministers have reiterated that a "two-state" solution, with a "viable Palestinian state alongside Israel" is "the only path to a just and lasting peace." However, none of them has taken the first step of recognizing Palestine, as most states in the world have done.
The G7's support for Ukraine has been more unanimous, at a time when fatigue is growing among its populations due to the effects of the war on their pockets and after the disappointing Ukrainian offensive.
In the statement published at the end of their meeting in Tokyo, the G7 foreign ministers reaffirmed their policy of sanctions against Moscow and the commitment that, in their respective jurisdictions, Russia's sovereign assets "will remain immobilized until it pays for the damage caused to Ukraine".
Nothing similar is under consideration for Israel, despite the fact that in recent weeks its aircraft have once again destroyed dozens of civil infrastructures in Gaza co-financed with European taxes. Not in vain, the majority of G7 members support "Israel's right to self-defense, within humanitarian legality." Despite the fact that the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur in Palestine, Francesca Albanese, insists that such a right is non-existent when it comes to foreign territories under military occupation.
On the other hand, the G7 Foreign Ministers today "strongly" condemned the arms transfers from North Korea to Russia, which represent a violation of UN resolutions, and urged both countries to immediately cease these exchanges. Moreover, all of them, except Japan, contribute to the Ukrainian war effort.
Likewise, the summit called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, in reference to Pyongyang's possession of nuclear warheads. While tiptoeing, in the country of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over the bravado last week of an Israeli minister, who proposed devastating Gaza with nuclear weapons (which Israel has also equipped itself with).
The G7 diplomats have also called on Iran to stop supporting Hamas and Hizbullah and stop "destabilizing the Middle East."
It should be noted that the G7 has lowered its tone regarding China, opting for a "constructive and stable" commitment. US President Joe Biden should meet with his counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in a few days.
