Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Japanese organization of atomic bombing survivors Nihon Hidankyo

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a shift in his country’s nuclear doctrine, in a move aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons. It appeared to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Watne Frydnes said the Nobel committee “wishes to honor all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace.”

Hidankyo's Hiroshima branch chairperson, Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was standing by at the city hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he received the news.

“Is it really true? Unbelievable!” Mimaki screamed.

Efforts to eradicate nuclear weapons have been honored in the past by the Nobel committee. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the peace prize in 2017, and in 1995 Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won for “their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms.”

This year's prize was awarded against a backdrop of devastating conflicts raging in the world, notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.

“It is very clear that threats of using nuclear weapons are putting pressure on the important international norm, the taboo of using nuclear weapons,” Watne Frydnes said in response to a question on whether the rhetoric from Russia surrounding nuclear weapons in its invasion of Ukraine had influenced this year's decision.

“And therefore it is alarming to see how threats of use is also damaging this norm. To uphold an international strong taboo against the use is crucial for all of humanity,” he added.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that "the spectre of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still looms over humanity. This makes the advocacy of Nihon Hidankyo invaluable. This Nobel Peace Prize sends a powerful message. We have the duty to remember. And an even greater duty to protect the next generations from the horrors of nuclear war.”

Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the peace prize should be awarded for "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Last year’s prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her advocacy of women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. The Nobel committee said it also was a recognition of “the hundreds of thousands of people” who demonstrated against “Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”

In a year of conflict, there had been some speculation before the announcement that the Norwegian Nobel Committee that decides on the winner would opt not to award a prize at all this year. The prize has been withheld a total of 19 times since 1901, including during both world wars. The last time it was not awarded was in 1972.

In the Middle East, persistently spiraling levels of violence over the past year have killed tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children and women. The war, sparked by a bloody raid into Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 that left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, has spilled out into the wider region.

In the past week, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah militants firing rockets into Israel, while Iran – which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah – fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel. Israel has yet to respond, but its defense minister vowed this week that its retaliation would be both devastating and surprising.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half are women and children. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed, with thousands more injured and around 1 million displaced since mid-September, when the Israeli military dramatically expanded its offensive against Hezbollah.

The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia’s invasion, is heading toward its third winter with a massive loss of human life on both sides.

The U.N. has confirmed more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilian dead, but that doesn’t take into account as many as 25,000 Ukrainians believed to have died during the Russian capture of the city of Mariupol or unreported deaths in the occupied territories.

The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Becatoros from Athens, Greece. Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed.

Toshiyuki Mimaki, right, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks to media members in Hiroshima, Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, as he reacts to Ninon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as he speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as he speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Masako Kudo, an official of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as she speaks to media members at its Tokyo office in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Ninon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, shows the logo of the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

In this 1945 file photo, a view of the devastation after the atom bomb was dropped, in Hiroshima, Japan. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Doves fly over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on Aug. 9, 2022. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - Kazumi Matsui, right, mayor of Hiroshima bows, at Hiroshima Memorial Cenotaph, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Aug. 6, 2015. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Smoke rises around 20,000 feet above Hiroshima, Japan, after the first atomic bomb was dropped, Aug. 6, 1945. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (AP Photo, File)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Assistant Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo and atomic bomb survivor Masako Wada arrives to attends a conference on nuclear disarmament, at the Vatican, Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. Ninon Hidankyo has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

CORRECTS NAME - Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks in an anti-atomic bomb meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 4, 2022. Ninon Hidankyo has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. (Kyodo News via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - A close-up view of a Nobel Prize medal at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The Nobel Peace Prize is being announced against a backdrop of conflicts around the world

The Nobel Peace Prize is being announced against a backdrop of conflicts around the world

FILE - A bust of Alfred Nobel on display following a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File)

Cross-border fire killed a young man from Thailand in the north of Israel early Friday, a day after Israeli strikes in Lebanon left dozens of people dead in Beirut and wounded two U.N. peacekeepers.

At least 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit two areas in central Beirut, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

In southern Lebanon, meanwhile, the U.N. peacekeeping force said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers, who were hospitalized.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.

A year ago, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, which began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023.

Here is the latest:

VIENTIANE, Laos — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday gave support to Israel’s escalated campaign against Hezbollah, saying it had “clear and legitimate” reasons, but said the U.S. is trying to find a diplomatic solution to the war.

“When the horror of Oct. 7 happened, the next day Hezbollah joined in, trying to create another front in the process,” he told a news conference after attending an annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

He said Israel has a “clear and very legitimate interest” in trying to allow the return of its citizens who were evacuated from their homes in northern Israel because of Hezbollah fire. “The people of Lebanon want the same thing,” he said, referring to Lebanese who fled homes near the border to escape Israeli bombardment.

“We believe that the best way to get there is through a diplomatic understanding, one that we’ve been working on for some time and one that we’re extremely focused on right now,” he said.

Blinken said it was also important that civilians are protected amid fighting in Lebanon and Gaza, adding that not enough humanitarian aid is reaching north Gaza and other areas.

JERUSALEM — Cross-border fire from Lebanon killed a young worker from Thailand in the north of Israel early Friday, Israel’s military said.

Israel's military said that the 27-year-old was killed by a rocket that hit farmland. The Thai Embassy in Israel and Israel's paramedic service said he was killed by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon. The two accounts could not immediately be reconciled.

The man was a farmworker on Kibbutz Yir'on, a communal farm in the north, the embassy said in a Facebook post Friday. The attack also “severely traumatized” another worker.

The embassy was working on getting in touch with the man’s family, a spokesperson for Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at a news conference in Bangkok.

The Israeli military said two other civilians were injured in the same incident Friday. Hezbollah claimed one missile attack on a military position in the north Friday morning.

Hezbollah and other militants in Lebanon have been exchanging fire with Israel for the past year. Israel recently escalated bombardment in Lebanon and invaded a strip inside the Lebanese border, vowing to push out Hezbollah fighters.

Friday’s strike was one of the first civilian deaths in Israel since the escalation began in late September. Two Israelis were killed by rocket debris Wednesday. On the Lebanese side, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,400 people in the past three weeks, including fighters, civilians and medical personnel.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey condemned Israel’s attack on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, characterizing it as “a manifestation of its perception that its crimes go unpunished.”

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement Thursday that its headquarters and positions “have been repeatedly hit” by Israeli forces. Two UNIFIL troops were wounded in the attacks.

The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire at a U.N. base in southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had ordered the peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces.”

“The international community is obliged to ensure that Israel abides by international law,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released late Thursday. “We will continue to support all initiatives within the framework of international law to promote peace in the region.

Turkey contributes to UNIFIL Maritime Task Force with a corvette and five personnel, the ministry said.

A man checks his destroyed house at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese women pass destroyed buildings at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese women pass the destroyed buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers use an excavator to clear the rubble of destroyed buildings as they search for victims at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of destroyed buildings as they search for victims at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers stand in front of destroyed buildings, as they prepare to start search for victims at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A woman passes in front of destroyed cars at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man uses his mobile phone as flames and smoke rise at the scene of buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)