TOKYO
\nThe Israeli ambassador to Japan has not yet been invited to Nagasaki\u2019s annual peace ceremony, said city officials who instead sent the embassy a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire.
\nThe city in southern Japan this week invited dozens of countries and territories to the August 9 event on the anniversary of the US nuclear attack in 1945 that killed 74,000 people.
\nBut \u201cas for Israel, the situation is changing day by day… so we have put sending an invitation letter on hold,\u201d mayor Shiro Suzuki told reporters on Monday.
\nIsrael launched a blistering military offensive in Gaza nearly eight months ago, following an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on the country.
\nWorries that protests could disrupt the memorial for atomic bomb victims are partly behind the decision, said Suzuki.
\n\u201cGiven the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza, and public opinion in the international community, there are concerns about the risk of unexpected incidents during the ceremony,\u201d which should be \u201csafe and smooth.\u201d
\n\u201cAs the Ukraine situation has not changed, we are not inviting Russia or Belarus\u201d either, Suzuki added.
\nThe Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the death of 1,194 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
\nMore than 36,470 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.
\nThe Palestinian envoy has been invited to the ceremony in Nagasaki, local officials told AFP on Tuesday. Japanese media said that both sides are usually invited.
\nNagasaki has instead sent a letter to the Israeli embassy in which \u201cwe call for an immediate ceasefire,\u201d Suzuki said.
\nIts letter said that if city officials decide in the coming months that there is no problem in inviting Israel, \u201cwe will issue an invitation swiftly,\u201d according to the mayor.
\nThe Israeli embassy did not immediately issue a comment.
\nThe somber memorial at Nagasaki\u2019s Peace Park has in the past included ringing bells, a release of doves, and a prayer ceremony for the bombing victims.
\nHiroshima also holds a yearly ceremony in memory of the 140,000 people killed there after the United States dropped the first nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945.
\nThe two strikes led to the end of World War II, and to this day Japan remains the only country to be hit by atomic weapons in wartime.
\nHiroshima has invited Israel to this year\u2019s ceremony, but in its letter called for a \u201cceasefire as soon as possible and resolution through dialogue,\u201d a city official said.
\nAccording to local media, Hiroshima has never invited a Palestinian representative to its ceremony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO The Israeli ambassador to Japan has not yet been invited to Nagasaki\u2019s annual peace ceremony, said city officials who instead sent the embassy a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire. The city in southern Japan this week invited dozens of countries and territories to the August 9 event on the anniversary of the US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n