Chinese President Xi Jinping – Photo: REUTERS
The Chinese President’s statement came at a time when Israel was conducting an attack on the Gaza Strip controlled by the Palestinian Islamic organization Hamas and set the goal of “wiping out” Hamas.
Chinese President Xi Jinping calls on Israel and Hamas to cease fire “immediately”
Currently, Israel is facing pressure to call for a ceasefire or issue temporary ceasefire orders to serve the needs of evacuating people as well as providing humanitarian aid to more than 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip.
Israel made it clear that a temporary ceasefire could only occur if the hostages in the hands of Hamas were released. It is known that Hamas is holding about 240 hostages.
Speaking at an online summit meeting of BRICS leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an immediate ceasefire. This is a more direct statement than Beijing’s request for “urgent” action in the Gaza Strip a few days ago.
“All parties to the conflict should immediately cease fire and hostilities, stop all violent attacks against civilians, and release captured civilians to avoid loss of life,” Xinhua quoted Mr. Xi’s words on November 21.
According to AFP, Mr. Xi did not specifically mention the number of hostages in the hands of Hamas or Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel.
China calls for resolving the Palestinian issue
The Chinese leader also called for an international peace conference to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“There will be no lasting peace and lasting security in the Middle East in the absence of a solution to the Palestinian problem,” he said. China calls for the early convening of an international peace conference, which has the authority more in building international consensus on peace”.
According to Mr. Xi, a discussion framework in the form of the above international conference will focus on moving towards an early solution to the Palestinian question in a comprehensive, fair and sustainable way.
Official statements from Mr. Xi promise greater Chinese initiative in contributing to resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In addition, the BRICS meeting could also promote deeper involvement of this bloc in the above conflict.
Earlier on November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that BRICS could participate in the political solution to the Israel-Hamas issue.
