Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry agreed on Thursday to maintain their close cooperation for calming down the situation surrounding Palestine and Israel, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

During their 20-minute telephone conversation, Kamikawa, who is currently visiting Thailand, stressed that she is paying close attention to the situation in the Gaza Strip with great concern, the ministry said in a press release.

The minister expressed her deep sadness over the loss of lives of so many innocent civilians, it added.

In addition, Kamikawa expressed appreciation for Egypt's diplomatic efforts on this matter, noting that Japan has been communicating with the parties concerned in order to calm down the situation and that Japan would like to continue working on this matter in cooperation with Egypt.

Furthermore, she said Japan would like to ask for support from Egypt in case there are Japanese nationals wanting to depart from Gaza to Egypt.

For his part, Shoukry said he shares the grave concern about the situation on the ground, and explained Egypt's diplomatic efforts in the wake of the attack.

He also affirmed that Egypt is ready to provide support needed by Japanese nationals in case of their departure.

Source: Kuwait News Agency