Japan-Qatar Summit Telephone Talk (Summary)

[Provisional translation]

On October 18th, commencing at 10:05 p.m. for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan held a telephone talk with H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar. The overview is as follows.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida stressed that he is paying close attention to the recent development in Israel and Palestine including the situation in the Gaza Strip with deep concern, and that Japan has unequivocally condemned the recent terror attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militants, especially the attacks on, and kidnapping of, innocent civilians, which cannot be justified for any reason.
2. Prime Minister Kishida stated that he felt strong indignation on tremendous damage to innocent civilians in the attack against Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, and that he would like to coordinate to secure the safety of civilians and to calm down the situation as soon as possible.
3. Prime Minister Kishida also expressed appreciation for Qatar’s diplomatic efforts to calm down the situation and to realize the release of hostages as soon as possible, and stated that Japan intends to implement emergency humanitarian aid of USD 10 million in total for citizens in the Gaza Strip through international organizations, and that Japan seeks to continue working on communicating with the parties concerned in order to calm down the situation and to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, in cooperation with Qatar.
4. In response, Amir Tamim stated that he shares the grave concern about the situation on the ground, and explained the diplomatic efforts of Qatar, which has a channel with Hamas, to calm down the situation and to realize the release of hostages as soon as possible. In addition, Amir Tamim expressed his appreciation for Japan’s diplomatic efforts and provision of humanitarian assistance.
5. The two leaders concurred on maintaining close cooperation between the two countries and working on the improvement of the humanitarian situation and calming down the situation.