Japan-UAE Summit Telephone Talk (Summary)
October 18, 2023
[Provisional translation]
On October 18th, commencing at 10:25 p.m. for approximately 10 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, held a telephone talk with H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, to discuss the recent development in Israel and Palestine. The overview is as follows.
- 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.
- 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.
- Prime Minister Kishida also expressed his appreciation for UAE’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 the UAE.
- In response, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed stated that he shares the grave concern about the situation on the ground and explained UAE’s diplomatic efforts to calm down the situation in the wake of the attack. In addition, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed expressed his appreciation for Japan’s diplomatic efforts and provision of humanitarian assistance.
- The two leaders concurred on maintaining close cooperation, including in the UN Security Council, and working on the improvement of the humanitarian situation and calming down the situation.