China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has criticized Israel’s actions in the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Wang stated that Israel’s actions have gone “beyond the scope of self-defence” and called on the Israeli government to “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”.
Wang said that China believes that security cannot be achieved by harming innocent civilians. He said that military means and violence will only lead to more violence and a vicious cycle. He urged for an immediate cease-fire and de-escalation to avoid worsening the humanitarian crisis, respect international humanitarian law and allow humanitarian relief.
Wang also stressed that the fundamental solution to the Palestinian issue is to implement the “two-state solution”, establish an independent Palestinian state and achieve peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel. He proposed an international peace conference to foster a broad consensus on this issue.
Wang said that major countries should be objective and fair, calm and restrained, and abide by international law when dealing with international and regional hot-spot issues.
Blinken informed Wang about his visit to the Middle East and the US position on the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He said that Washington supports the “two-state solution” and the role of the United Nations in easing the situation and providing humanitarian relief. He also said that the US is willing to communicate and coordinate with China on this matter.