China Warns Israel Not to Occupy Gaza

China has warned Israel against “dangerous actions” of occupying Gaza, expressing its concerns for Tel Aviv’s decision to escalate its military offensive in Gaza.

Beijing’s remarks came after Israeli media exposed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, with US backing, to push ahead with a full-scale reoccupation of the besieged Palestinian enclave, targeting areas believed to hold Israeli captives.

“We urge Israel to immediately halt such dangerous actions. We urge all parties to promptly reach a binding and sustainable ceasefire agreement,” China’s envoy to the UN Geng Shuang told the UN Security Council meeting in New York on Tuesday according to Anadolu.

“We further urge countries with significant influence over the parties concerned to act in a just and responsible manner and take concrete steps to help bring about a ceasefire,” he said, according to an official transcript of his speech.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children. Israel’s military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

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China Scoffs at Trump’s Gaza ‘Take Over’ Plan

China on Wednesday rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s plans to over “take over” Gaza, saying it opposes forced displacement of Palestinians to neighboring countries, state media reported.

Beijing “has always believed that ‘the Palestinians governing Palestine’ is the fundamental principle for postwar governance in Gaza,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters.

“We oppose the forced displacement and relocation of the population in Gaza,” Lin stressed, rejecting Trump’s controversial plans to take over the Palestinian besieged enclave.

The statement from Beijing came after Trump announced a plan for the US to “take over” the Gaza Strip and “develop it after relocating Palestinians to neighboring countries.”

Trump made the remarks in a joint news conference in Washington with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” he said. “We’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it’ll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of.”

Trump gave no details on how the US would carry out the resettlement plan.

China’s Foreign Ministry, in contrast, said it hopes “all relevant parties will take the ceasefire in Gaza and post-war governance as an opportunity to push the Palestinian issue back onto the correct track of political resolution based on the ‘two-state solution,’ in order to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East,” according to Anadolu.

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