TOKYO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Japanese counterpart Yuko Kamikawa during a meeting in Tokyo on Sunday stressed to prevent the escalation of tensions on the Lebanese front to avoid a regional war.
According to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting came amid the regional escalation in the past few hours between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon.
It is the second meeting in 48 hours between Kamikawa and Abdelatty, who is in Japan to participate in the Ministerial Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
Early on Sunday, the Lebanese group fired hundreds of rockets and drones to respond to the killing of its leader Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut in July.
During the meeting, both ministers stressed the importance of boosting joint efforts, in cooperation with international and regional partners, to avoid a regional war that threatens the security and stability of the entire region.
Moreover, they stressed efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, secure the release of captives and detainees, and ensure unconditional access to humanitarian and medical assistance to end the suffering of the Palestinian people.
According to the statement, the meeting reflects the interest in consultation and coordination between Japan and Egypt, which has played an important role in mediation to stop tensions escalation in the Middle East from the very beginning.
The statement added during the meeting the two sides also emphasized Japan’s commitment to stop regional escalation and achieving peace.
Egypt, alongside the US and Qatar, has been mediating indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal in the Gaza war.
On Sunday, a high-level Israeli delegation, including Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, headed to Cairo for urgent talks regarding the Gaza ceasefire.
The White House on Friday said that progress has been made at the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo.
