Japan will not recognise a Palestinian state for now, a decision likely taken to maintain relations with the United States and to avoid a hardening of Israel’s attitude, Reuters says, citing a report in the Asahi newspaper, which quoted unidentified government sources.

The US had prompted Japan to forgo the recognition of a Palestinian state through several diplomatic channels, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had strongly urged his Japanese counterpart to recognise it, Kyodo news agency reported last week.

Japan has been conducting a “comprehensive assessment, including appropriate timing and modalities, of the issue of recognising Palestinian statehood,” Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a news briefing on Tuesday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the government’s top spokesperson, repeated the statement at a news conference today when asked about the Asahi report.

But Hayashi expressed a “grave sense of crisis” over the Israeli ground assault on Gaza City, saying “the very foundations of a two-state solution could be collapsing”. He urged Israel to “take substantive steps to end the severe humanitarian crisis, including famine, as soon as possible”.