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TOKYO: Despite the recent attacks on Gaza and Syria, Japan has notably refrained from condemning Israel’s actions.

This stance contrasts sharply with Tokyo’s more vocal criticisms of military actions taken by other nations, such as Russia.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya reiterated Japan’s commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, emphasizing the need for restraint and dialogue. He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of countries working to resolve the situation in Syria.

“As I mentioned previously, we are deeply concerned about the situation in Syria,” Iwaya stated, adding that Israel’s attacks on Syria could be “severely worsening” the situation there.

“We are calling for the steadfast implementation of the ceasefire agreement agreed upon by the involved parties and strongly urging all parties, including Israel, to exercise maximum restraint.”

Furthermore, Iwaya emphasized that Syria’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence should be respected. He acknowledged that the Syrian government has engaged in dialogue aimed at achieving a political solution and national reconciliation.

“We are committed to demanding that all parties play a constructive role in achieving a peaceful and stable transition in Syria,” he added.

Israel’s aggressive invasion of Syrian territories and its ongoing bombings of critical Syrian establishments — most recently, airstrikes on the presidential palace and the defense ministry — have raised serious concerns.

When Iwaya was asked whether Japan would take a stronger stance, including condemnation and sanctions against Israel like its response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, he reiterated, “We are committed to demanding that all parties play a constructive role in achieving a peaceful and stable transition in Syria.”

MADRID: The Spanish government on Tuesday introduced a bill to automatically declassify all secret government files older than 45 years, including documents from Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and the transition to democracy.
If approved by parliament, the proposed law could shed light on some of Spain’s darkest chapters, including Franco’s ties to Adolf Hitler, the locations of mass graves where victims of his 1939-75 rule were buried, and details of the 1966 Palomares nuclear accident caused by the mid-air collision of two US Air Force planes over a fishing village in southern Spain.
“With this law we will overcome an obstacle in our legislation to put us in line with European standards,” Justice Minister Felix Bolanos told reporters.
“Citizens have the right to know. Administrations have the obligation to provide documentation that is important for history,” he added.
The bill seeks to replace the existing law governing official secrets, enacted during Franco’s rule, which lacks provisions for automatic declassification based on the amount of time that has passed.
The law would automatically declassify all documents older than 45 years unless they constituted a justified threat to national security, Bolanos said.
For documents created after that period, the draft law outlines a tiered system: “highly classified” documents would remain secret for up to 60 years; “classified” files for up to 45 years; “confidential” material for up to nine years; and “restricted” documents for up to five years.
The government should not restrict access to documents related to the Catholic Church or former King Juan Carlos, said the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARHM), a volunteer group dedicated to identifying victims of political violence during Spain’s Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship.
It also warned that some documents may have already been removed or redacted, and it called for the immediate digitization of records to ensure public access.
Bolanos said that declassifying Franco-era files would be a gradual process given their volumes.
The draft law must now pass through parliament, where Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government struggles to garner sufficient votes as it weighs concessions to disparate political factions.