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200 people join candlelight vigil in Tokyo calling for cease-fire in Gaza

TOKYO — About 200 people participated in a candlelight rally calling for a cease-fire in Gaza at a temple in Tokyo on the evening of Oct. 5, ahead of the first anniversary on Oct. 7 of the start of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas in the Palestinian autonomous region.

The event, held at Zojoji temple in the capital’s Minato Ward, was organized by an executive committee comprising six nonprofit and other groups. After 600 LED candles were lit on the temple premises to form the word “Gaza,” participants observed a one-minute moment of silence to pray for the victims.

According to the executive committee, at least 41,615 people had died and another 96,359 had been injured in Gaza as of Sept. 30, while more than 10,000 people remain missing.

A 65-year-old company worker from Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, who took part in the rally, commented, “While people in Japan tend to shy away from the issue thinking that it is a ‘political matter,’ so many people were killed (in Gaza) over the past year. I hope people in Japan will also share the sense of urgency.”

Ahead of the vigil, a meeting to report on the plight of people in Gaza was held at the temple. Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Palestinian doctor of Canadian descent, who grew up at a refugee camp in Gaza, called for a broader awareness about the need to bring about a cease-fire, describing the current conflict as a human-made tragedy that has been generating mass destruction, mass starvation and mass suffering.

Masayuki Teshima of the nonprofit group “Campaign for the Children of Palestine” said, “I hope people will maintain an interest in the issue by learning about the reality in Gaza.”

(Japanese original by Yuta Hiratsuka, Digital News Group)

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