TOKYO, Nov 7, 2023 (71newsbd/AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers expected to be dominated by the Israel-Hamas war.

Blinken made no public comment as he arrived for the two days of discussions in Tokyo following a whirlwind tour of the Middle East.

The Israeli military has relentlessly bombarded Gaza since October 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack that left 1,400 dead in Israel, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 10,000 people — including more than 4,000 children.

Calls have been mounting for a ceasefire, including from UN agencies and several countries.

A key ally of Israel, the United States has not backed these calls, insisting that Israel has the right to respond — though Washington has called for pauses in the fighting.

In Turkey on Monday, Blinken said Washington was working “very aggressively” to expand aid for trapped civilians.

“I think we will see in the days ahead that the assistance can expand in significant ways,” Blinken added, without providing details.

The ministers from the G7 — the United States, Japan, France, Britain, Italy, Germany and Canada — were also set to discuss the conflict in Ukraine as well as relations with China.