Ashraf AboArafe
I am very happy to be here in Tokyo again, to participate in the G7 [Foreign Ministers] meeting with several important points on the agenda.
The first one, certainly, is the situation in Gaza where the important thing at the moment is to try to alleviate the humanitarian situation. Certainly, we have strongly condemned the Hamas terrorist attack and [supported] the right of Israel to defend [itself] respecting international law and humanitarian conditions.
We have to do our best in order to protect civilians. I know that to stop and to decrease the current escalation looks difficult, but we have to do our most in order to make the hostages free, in order to let bi-nationals go out [of Gaza], in order to increase humanitarian assistance.
The European Union has been providing €100 million [in humanitarian aid] – increasing that in the last days. But the important thing is not just to have financial resources, but the capacity to go into Gaza. And for that, the border has to give greater capacity for transportation of the humanitarian aid.
The current situation is very dire from a humanitarian point of view, but we have to do our most in order to try to protect civilians. We strongly support – the European Union strongly supports – the opening of humanitarian corridors and the humanitarian pauses in order to make the aid possible, and the hostages being released.
About Ukraine, we have not to forget about Ukraine. The war in Ukraine continues and Russia is attacking stronger those days.
We have to continue supporting Ukraine. We have to work on the peace process, on [President of Ukraine, Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s Peace [Formula], and at the same time, to continue providing economic and military support to Ukraine.
And also, [we have] to talk and discuss about the new package of sanctions against Russia. I hope that in the next days, I will be able to present, together with the [European] Commission, the new package of sanctions that will be coordinated here with the G7 members in order to offer a comprehensive [and] coordinated approach.
