Statement by the Press Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the recent situation of the Middle East Peace Process

February 23, 2011
Japanese

Japan believes that peace in the Middle East can be realized only through negotiations. Japan strongly hopes that negotiations for peace will start soon, regardless of the results in the United Nations Security Council. Japan also calls on both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides to make further efforts to resume negotiations. In addition, Japan hopes that the United States will continue its efforts for mediation and that the international community, including the Quartet, will support the efforts for peace. Japan will continue to make as much of a contribution as possible in order to create circumstances which will promote peace in the Middle East.
Japan has repeatedly urged the Government of Israel to freeze all settlement activities in West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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