G7 Ministers Unite Over Gaza Crisis in Tokyo

GS Paper II International Relations

Context:

Recently, a G7 Ministers meet was held in Tokyo, Japan. G7 appeals for humanitarian pauses in Gaza, seeks hostages’ release.

About G7:

The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
G7 countries shared fundamental values such as freedom, democracy, and human rights, and exchanged views on important challenges the international community faced at that time, such as the global economy, regional affairs and various global issues.
The G7 does not have a formal charter or a secretariat.
The Presidency, rotates among member countries each year, is in charge of setting the agenda.

A month of relentless bombardment in Gaza has killed more than 10,300 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, since Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people and took some 240 hostages in an Oct. 7 cross-border gun rampage.
Around 70% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and many of them are crowded into U.N. schools-turned-shelters. Civilians in Gaza are relying on a trickle of aid and their own daily foraging for food and water from supplies that have dwindled after weeks of siege.

Humanitarian pauses and corridors to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement, and the release of hostages
The foreign ministers of G7 countries also emphasized on “Israel’s right to defend itself and its people in accordance with international law as it seeks to prevent a recurrence” of the Hamas attacks on Israel
Iran to refrain from providing support for Hamas and taking further actions that destabilize the Middle East, including support for Lebanese Hezbollah and other non-state actors
The G7 said that a two-state solution “remains the only path to a just, lasting, and secure peace”.

Source: The Hindu