China says outlook worrisome as conflict spreads in Middle East: State media

BEIJING - China views the situation in Gaza as “very serious”, with the risk of a large-scale ground conflict rising and the outlook “worrisome” as armed conflicts along neighbouring borders spread, said Chinese state media on Monday, citing the country’s Middle East special envoy.

The envoy, Mr Zhai Jun, said China has provided and will continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Palestinians through the United Nations and via bilateral channels to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

Mr Zhai said China believes “force is not a way to resolve”

the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

and is once again calling for a ceasefire, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Egypt on Saturday hosted a “summit for peace”

where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for swift “action to end this godawful nightmare”, after two weeks of war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Mr Zhai met Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit on the sidelines of the summit.

The Chinese diplomat called for an “immediate ceasefire and an end to the fighting as quickly as possible”, his ministry said in a statement.

“China believes that force is not a way to resolve the problem and that responding to violence with violence will only lead to a vicious circle of revenge,” Mr Zhai said according to the statement, which mentioned neither Israel nor Hamas.

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct 7

and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.

Israel’s retaliatory bombing campaign has killed more than 4,600 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

China has so far maintained good relations with Israel, but it has supported the Palestinian cause for decades and traditionally backs a two-state solution.

It said last Thursday that it was “deeply disappointed” by the

United States’ decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution

calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Washington justified its veto because the text did not mention Israel’s right to defend itself.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said it was “crucial to prevent the conflict from expanding or even losing control and causing a serious humanitarian crisis”, as he met Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Beijing last Thursday. REUTERS, AFP