By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA) – Reiterating its stance that tensions in the Red Sea were a “spillover” effect of the war in Gaza, China called for a cease-fire in the besieged Palestinian enclave to “cool down” the situation in the major water way.
“An immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza will help cool down the situation in Yemen and the Red Sea,” Chinese ambassador Geng Shuang told the UN Security Council.
The Security Council held on Thursday a discussion on a draft resolution on the situation in the Red Sea, according to a statemeny by the Chinese diplomatic mission to the UN.
The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.
With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that they consider all American and British ships military targets.
Without naming the US, the Chinese ambassador said: “We call on the relevant country to make efforts to this end (achieving cease-fire) sincerely and responsibly.”
“China stands ready to continue to work with the council and the international community to promote an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza, search for a political solution to the Yemen issue, and work together for peace and stability in the Middle East,” said Geng.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.