China calls on Israel to cease attacks on Rafah

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China on Wednesday repeated its call to Israel, urging Tel Aviv to cease its attacks on the Rafah city in the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza, state media reported.

Beijing “expresses serious concern over Israel's military actions targeting Rafah,” said Mao Ning, the spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry.

Israel should “listen to the overwhelming calls of the international community to cease its attacks,” Mao said.

“The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is extremely dire and we call on all parties to immediately cease fire and to spare no effort to prevent further casualties among innocent civilians and to prevent the Gaza Strip from experiencing a more serious humanitarian disaster,” Mao added.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

Nearly 36,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel’s incursion in Rafah, launched in early May, has forced 1 million people to flee the city.

The country stands accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah.

Israeli forces are said to have reached the center of Rafah and seized control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a demilitarized buffer zone running along the Gaza-Egypt border.