Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said her country wants to “take a lead” in efforts to alleviate the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, according to local media reports, Al Jazeera reports.

Kamikawa said in an interview with Kyodo News that Japan will also proactively work with other nations towards the realisation of a “two-state solution” to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“We will aim to improve the humanitarian situation and help de-escalation in the short term, and approach them to realise a two-state solution in the long term,” the foreign minister was quoted as saying.