China’s top diplomat reiterates call for cease-fire in Gaza

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated his call for a cease-fire in Gaza on Thursday, stressing the need for peace, stability and international solidarity.

“Life should not be labeled by race,” Wang said, referring to the more than 30,000 deaths in the Palestinian enclave since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

“This is a disgrace for civilization…a tragedy for humanity,” he said, calling on the international community to act “immediately” to achieve a cease-fire.

Addressing the ministry’s annual news conference in Beijing, Wang said people in Gaza have a “right to life in this world.”

Calling for the release of “all detainees,” he said “the calamity in Gaza is another call to people that the long occupation of Palestine should not be ignored.”

“Injustice should not be allowed to continue,” he said, insisting that the two-state solution was the “only way to end the vicious cycle of violence.”

Extending his support for Palestine’s full UN membership, Wang said the solution to Palestine would “ensure peace in Middle East.”

China stands for a comprehensive and lasting solution to Palestine, he added.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 30,700 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.