UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS AS MEETING BEGINS, CHANGES HEADLINE
By Riyaz ul Khaliq and Alperen Aktas
ISTANBUL (AA) – The top diplomats of G-7 member nations began a two-day summit in Japan on Tuesday.
The summit comes as Israel launched indiscriminate attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza as well as the occupied West Bank.
According to Tokyo-based Kyodo News, the foreign ministers of the world's most industrialized nations began the first day with a working dinner "focused on the Middle East."
The summit will have five sessions on Wednesday, it added.
Top diplomats of Japan (current G-7 chair), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the US, UK, and EU are attending the meeting at Iikura Guest House in the Japanese capital Tokyo.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is expected to remain on the agenda during various discussions over the course of two days.
This is the first face-to-face meeting of the G-7 top diplomats since the Israeli war on Gaza began on Oct. 7.
Japan has announced $65 million in aid for Palestinians in Gaza but has taken a position akin to that of the US on Hamas, denouncing its actions.
Tokyo may, however, press on its call for a humanitarian pause as the Gaza Strip faces a disastrous crisis for want of essentials, drinking water, medical aid, and food.
The G-7 members meet after four different draft resolutions concerning Gaza were vetoed in the UN Security Council in a month.
Israel launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 10,022 Palestinians, including 4,104 children and 2,641 women, have been killed in Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip.
In the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have killed 163 Palestinians since the ongoing war began.
The Israeli death toll is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.