Japan’s Foreign Ministry has called on Japanese nationals in the occupation state of Israel to exercise extreme caution amid growing tensions in West Asia.
The warning was issued on Friday after US President Joe Biden said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” in response to a deadly Israeli airstrike on the consular section of the Iranian Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus, in what has been described as a blatant violation of international law.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander IRGC’s Quds Force, and his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi were among the seven killed in the attack.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said Israel had resorted to indiscriminate assassinations after back-to-back failures in the face of the resistance, warning that Tel Aviv’s latest crime against Iranian military advisers in Syria “will not go unanswered.”
On Saturday, Iran seized a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz with links to an Israeli businessman. According to the Japan Times, the ministry also called on Japanese nationals staying in countries and regions other than Israel to stay away from facilities related to occupation state, including embassies.
Despite the Japanese government’s support for Israel after the Palestinian operation ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ in October 2023, there has been an increase in pro-Palestinian protests, often spearheaded by tech-savvy youth. These young activists are gaining awareness of the genocide in Gaza through online platforms, which provide perspectives beyond the traditional, and often skewed, local media coverage.
