TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan will accept two injured and sick individuals from the Gaza Strip within a few days for medical treatment, marking its first such support for the Palestinian enclave amid ongoing Israeli attacks, Japanese government sources said Tuesday.

A Palestinian who was hospitalized in Egypt after being injured in fighting in Gaza, and the other patient, are expected to arrive in Japan on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, for treatment at the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital in Tokyo, the sources said.

The medical aid in Japan was arranged at the request of the World Health Organization and is not intended to relocate people from Gaza to Japan, the sources said.

In February, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a parliamentary session that his government was "making efforts to accept people who have fallen ill or been injured in Gaza" after the Palestinian militant group Hamas's surprise attack on Israel in October 2023 triggered a large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Largely dependent on the Middle East for oil imports, resource-poor Japan has traditionally pursued a "balanced diplomacy" between Muslim nations and Israel, which is backed by the United States, Tokyo's close security ally.

Japan has accepted injured Ukrainian soldiers for medical treatment as part of its support for the Eastern European country, which has been fighting against Russia since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.