Japan has offered condolences for the loss of many Thais in Hamas' attack in Israel, a Japanese foreign affairs ministry official said during a trip to the kingdom.
Kobayashi-Terada Maki, director-general for Press and Public Diplomacy at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the press yesterday during a ministry visit to Thailand that the attack by Hamas resulted in 21 Thais dead, 14 injured and 16 captured.
She condemned the Palestinian militant group for the "terrorist attack", noting international cooperation is required to stop the escalation.
"We are concerned about the current situation in Israel," she said. "We will continue to... speak to the neighbouring countries to raise the concern and calm down the situation as soon as possible.
"We do need to have solidarity to end the conflicts," she said, adding Japan's foreign affairs minister hopes that the hostages will be released soon.
Japan's newly appointed foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, met her Thai counterpart, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, on Thursday to affirm solid cooperation with Thailand on various matters, including the economy.
Ms Kobayashi said several issues were discussed by the two ministers, especially closer cooperation on economic development in Asean, maritime security, food security, climate change and action plans to achieve sustainable development goals.
The Japanese visit to Thailand also marked 50 years of Asean-Japan friendship and further cooperation in the years to come.
Ms Kobayashi said the two ministers have agreed to strengthen technology transfer in the military field amid global tensions.
Regarding Myanmar, she said the Japanese foreign minister raised her concerns with Mr Parnpree, saying Japan is worried about attacks on minority groups in Myanmar, which has led to many deaths.
