April 16, 2025

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku said that reportedly, Israel in its resumed large-scale military offensive in Palestine’s Gaza Strip even targeted ambulances engaged in rescue action. He demanded that the Japanese government criticize Israel’s act for violating international law.

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.

At a meeting of the House of Councilors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on April 15, Yamazoe referred to a news report that the bodies of 15 humanitarian and medical personnel, including Palestine Red Crescent Society rescue workers, who had been under attack by the Israeli troops were discovered on March 23. Regarding this issue, Yamazoe asked if the government regards Israel’s act as a violation of international law. Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi replied, “It is hard to evaluate the situation due to difficulty in fully obtaining the facts.”

Yamazoe said that Israel admitted the killing of the 15 humanitarian workers to have been as a mistake. He went on to say that International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Secretary General Jagan Chapagain claimed that as international humanitarian law requires, health and humanitarian workers must be protected. Nevertheless, the JCP lawmaker said, the Japanese government still refuses to state that Israel’s attack on rescue workers constitutes a violation of international law.

Yamazoe noted that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and five other UN agencies on April 7 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 outrage.