A nonpartisan group of Japanese lawmakers on Thursday submitted a petition with 206 signatures to Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, urging the government to recognize a Palestinian state.

The move came ahead of a high-level international conference in New York on Sept. 22 on the proposed two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Israel has no intention of agreeing to a cease-fire, and child hunger cannot be ignored," Tomoko Abe of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan said when she and two other opposition members of the group met with the foreign minister.

The group also includes members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Countries including France and Britain plan to recognize a Palestinian state as international pressure mounts on Israel over the war in Gaza and the worsening starvation crisis. Japan is still weighing its stance.

"I take this seriously since this many signatures were collected," Iwaya said, adding that the ministry will look into the matter further.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who announced his resignation last Sunday, previously headed the nonpartisan group. Attention is now on whether the latest request will influence the government's decision.