MUMBAI, India – Japanese Cardinal Isao Kikuchi says it is important to help the suffering people in Gaza but questions a proposal by Japan’s prime minister to bring injured Palestinians into the country.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday the Japanese government is making efforts to find ways to accept people in Japan “who have fallen ill or been injured in Gaza.”

He also told the House of Representatives the government will try to launch a special program in which universities can offer opportunities for students from Gaza to study in Japan.

“I do welcome such initiatives from Japanese Government to try to assist people in Gaza who has been facing life threatening crisis for such a long period,” Kikuchi told Crux.

“I do consider offering medical aid to those in need of such assistance as important action. However, bringing injured people out from Gaza to another country itself should not be prioritized, as such a move could be considered as a promotion of Palestinian people leaving Gaza,” the Japanese cardinal said.

Last month, Ishiba pledged that Japan will facilitate the development of Palestine, included funds for hospitals and schools.

The Gaza war broke out following an Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas militants that left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 250 taken as hostages. Of the roughly 100 hostages who remain in Gaza, a third are believed to be dead, according to Israeli Defense Forces.

Israel immediately launched a retaliatory offensive in Gaza to oust Hamas from leadership, with the subsequent conflict resulting in the deaths of over 40,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian estimates.

In January, newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump was criticized for suggesting all Palestinians be moved out of Gaza into other Muslim nations. He also plans on extending a U.S. funding ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

The UN agency’s communications director Juliette Touma said schools and clinics remain open, providing services to refugees, adding they are seeing “attendance at UNRWA schools at over 80 to 85 percent.”

Kikuchi said the Japanese government should put more efforts to join other international political players in working for peace building in Palestine and the region, saying Japan “could take a neutral position in the context of the history and the relationship of the religions in the region.”

The Japanese cardinal also praised the government’s plan to accept students for higher education, saying it was a “welcome and positive initiative.”

“Providing education for the youth in Gaza will definitely contribute creating strong leaders for the future and will have a positive impact on the Palestinian people and help provide stability in the region,” he told Crux.

“In case the government requests assistance for these initiatives, the Catholic Church in Japan will be happy to collaborate and Catholic institutions of higher studies in Japan would be happy to contribute for such a way of peace building through education,” Kikuchi said.

The cardinal is also the president of Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican international aid agency.

“As for Caritas, we are seriously worried about the present situation of Gaza. Of course, we do understand the historical and political background of the area, however, what we would like to achieve is the protection of all human lives, which are precious gift from God,” he said.

“Especially, we are concerned about safety of aid workers and also ensuring activities of UNRWA in the area. Humanitarian aid cannot and must not be stopped by anyone,” the cardinal said.