The historical facts of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre committed by Japanese army during the invasion of China cannot be distorted or denied, veteran journalist Yoichi Jomaru said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) on Saturday.
Jomaru, a former journalist with Asahi Shimbun, spent three and a half years reviewing approximately 80 Japanese newspapers and related materials published across Japan of that time to search for wartime and postwar coverage of the Nanjing Massacre.
He found that while Japanese media at the time recorded part of the facts of the massacre, they remained silent on many atrocities.
Jomaru said that Japanese reporters at the time intentionally hid the truth of the massacre and other atrocities committed by the Japanese army in China, and his findings were published in his book.
"Even if it is a cruel and shameful history, the Nanjing Massacre cannot be denied. History cannot be denied. I was a journalist, a news reporter. Covering up the truth of the history is wrong," said Jomaru.
Jomaru said that Japan must face its history of aggression and honestly face its wartime responsibility to build genuine trust and understanding with its Asian neighbors.
"I think one of Japan's major failures after the war was not forming a broad social consensus on the nature of its aggression. To make sure that people have books to read when they want to access the truth, there must be someone to write about it. As an author, I will continue to write and publish," said Jomaru.
Facts of Nanjing Massacre cannot be denied: Japanese journalist
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said early Tuesday morning that the Israeli Air Force was striking Hezbollah's command center and weapons storage facilities in Beirut, and attacked Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV in Beirut's southern suburb the same morning.
The Israeli military launched airstrikes Monday on Beirut's southern suburbs and villages in southern Lebanon, displacing thousands of civilians, local broadcaster Al Jadeed TV reported.
The attacks followed evacuation warnings issued by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee.
Israeli strikes across Lebanon killed at least 52 people and wounded 154 on Monday, the Lebanese government said. The bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs displaced more than 28,500 people, the government's disaster management unit reported.
Israel's military said Monday it struck more than 70 sites in Lebanon over the past day, targeting Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, launch sites, and missile launchers.
Tensions escalated after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes.
"Hezbollah launched a volley of missiles and a swarm of drones toward Israel shortly before 1 a.m. (on Monday), in response to the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday. After Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing rockets on Haifa and other places in Israel, the Israeli army launched a series of intense strikes on Lebanon at around 2:40 a.m., targeting southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, causing thousands of people to flee these areas, with the Israeli army announcing an intensification of strikes and several days of fighting," said a China Media Group (CMG) reporter in Beirut.
The Lebanese government declared on Monday that all military and security activities outside state authority are illegal, demanding that Hezbollah disarm and surrender its weapons to state institutions.
"The Lebanese state declares its absolute refusal of any military or security actions taking place on Lebanese soil outside the framework of its legitimate institutions and affirms that the decision of war and peace rests in the hands of the Lebanese state alone," the Council of Ministers said in a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting, according to local television channel al-Jadeed.
The Cabinet said that Hezbollah's armed activities violate state authority and ordered security agencies to prevent the launch of rockets or drones from Lebanese territory and apprehend violators.
The Cabinet reaffirmed Lebanon's dissociation from regional conflicts and called for intensified diplomacy to secure a ceasefire and a clear Israeli commitment to halt attacks on Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad, who heads the group's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, criticized the government decision, noting that the move targets groups confronting Israeli attacks while failing to halt what he described as ongoing aggression.
Israeli strikes hit Beirut targets, Lebanese gov't bans Hezbollah military activities
