Nagasaki's mayor expressed regret on Thursday over the US and British ambassadors' refusal to attend the ceremony commemorating the 1945 atomic bombing due to "Israel" being excluded.

However, he stood by the decision not to invite "Israel" to the annual event on Friday, emphasizing that it was "not political" and aimed at avoiding potential protests concerning the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

"It is unfortunate that they have communicated to us that their ambassadors are not able to attend," Shiro Suzuki told journalists.

"We made a comprehensive decision not for political reasons. We want to conduct a smooth ceremony in a peaceful and solemn environment," he added.

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On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 74,000 people, including many who survived the explosion but died later from radiation exposure.

This came three days after the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima that killed 140,000 people. Japan announced its surrender in World War II on August 15, 1945.

The United States, Britain, France, Italy, and the European Union – and reportedly Canada and Australia – are all sending diplomats below ambassador level to the ceremony.

Only the US and British embassies made an explicit link to Nagasaki's decision not to invite "Israel's" ambassador Gilad Cohen, although a source told AFP that Italy's move was also a direct consequence.

The British embassy said leaving out "Israel" created "an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus – the only other countries not invited to this year's ceremony."

A spokesperson for the French embassy called Suzuki's decision "regrettable and questionable," while the German mission criticized "placing Israel on the same level as Russia and Belarus."

Cohen, who attended a similar memorial ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday, said last week that the Nagasaki decision "sends a wrong message to the world."

Calls to ban 'Israel' from Hiroshima & Nagasaki memorial over Gaza war

The ban comes as many parties, including activists and groups of survivors of the atomic bomb explosion with which the United States targeted the Japanese city of Hiroshima, had demanded that the city authorities disinvite the Israeli occupation from attending the ceremony that was held on the anniversary of the explosion on August 6.

We support Nagasaki!　
Israelis! Don't come to Nagasaki!　
US who atomic bombed us!　Don't come to Nagasaki!

Nagasaki stands with Palestine!#正しいぞ長崎市 pic.twitter.com/A7HMgUCTGw

— mko　🇷🇺 (@trappedsoldier) August 7, 2024

Hiroshima refused to prevent "Israel" from attending the ceremony, which "promotes world peace." Accused of double standards, a spokesperson for the Hiroshima city government claimed that "it is not a double standard. Our policy is to invite all countries. However, Russia and Belarus are exceptions due to the invasion of Ukraine."

Nagasaki mayor disinvites Israel from annual A-bomb ceremony. Pressure mounts on Hiroshima mayor to do the same. No nukes! Free Palestine! pic.twitter.com/uC4OgV4cBU

— 🇵🇸🇯🇵Thoton Akimoto (@AkimotoThn) July 31, 2024

According to CNN, the activists emphasized that "the ceremony is no place for Israel" against the backdrop of its continuing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

Read more: Nagasaki excludes 'Israel' from peace ceremony over war on Gaza