Japan-Saudi Arabia Summit Telephone Talk (Summary)

[Provisional translation]

On October 18th, commencing at 7:15 p.m. for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, held a telephone talk with His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss the recent development in Israel and Palestine. 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 feels strong indignation over tremendous damage to innocent civilians caused by the attack against Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, and that he seeks to coordinate to secure the safety of civilians and to calm down the situation as soon as possible.
3. Prime Minister Kishida also expressed his appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic efforts to calm down the situation, 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 Saudi Arabia.
4. In response, H.R.H. Prince Mohammed explained Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic efforts and stated that he shares the serious concern about the situation on the ground, that he has been in close contact with the concerned parties to calm down the situation, and that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) seeks to strengthen its 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.