RAMALLAH
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the alleged abduction of two Japanese nationals by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group in Syria.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Ramallah, Abe said the ISIL's hostage-taking of the Japanese citizens was "unacceptable."
For his part, Abbas said the kidnapping was a "violation of all values and doctrines."
Abe said that his government would contact regional forces to resolve the hostages' crisis with the primary emphasis on the pair's physical safety.
He also pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid to the PA, some of which would go to the reconstruction of the war-battered Gaza Strip.
Abe shortened his visit to the West Bank on Tuesday, hours after the ISIL group claimed the abduction of two Japanese nationals in Syria, according to a source from Abbas' office.
ISIL militants have released an online video featuring two hostages kneeling in orange jumpsuits who were identified by a British-accented militant as freelance journalist Kenji Goto and security contractor Haruna Yukawa.
The masked militant went on to demand a $200 million ransom to be paid within 72 hours to atone for aid that Premier Abe had promised earlier this week to countries affected by the US-led international campaign against ISIL.
The Japanese government, for its part, said it would not "bow down to terrorism" as officials asserted that an investigation had been launched to assess the video clip's authenticity.
