Ongoing conflict will only push peace and stability further ‘out of reach' in Middle East, says Foreign Ministry
China on Tuesday said that military operations and violence are not the “way out”, and will only push peace and stability further “out of reach” in the Middle East.
“The harsh reality fully proves that military operations and violence are not the way out, and will only accumulate grievance and push peace and stability further out of reach," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on the first anniversary of the Gaza conflict.
"The Gaza conflict has been dragging on for a whole year, and has caused the loss of many innocent lives and unprecedented humanitarian disaster," she said at a daily news briefing in Beijing.
She noted that the spillover of the conflict affects the region and tensions in the region have continued to escalate.
“China is deeply concerned that the fighting is still going on and peace remains elusive,” Mao went on to say.
She recalled China's recently proposed three-step initiative regarding the conflict in Gaza, which identifies cease-fire and humanitarian aid as the pressing priority, "the Palestinians governing Palestine" as the fundamental principle of post-conflict reconstruction in Gaza and the two-state solution as the fundamental way forward.
The legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people need to be realized and the reasonable security concerns of Israel need to be paid attention too, maintained Mao.
In Israel's deadly attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed, and almost 100,000 injured.
In addition to this humanitarian crisis, the attacks have caused ecocide by damaging agricultural lands, water resources, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
Despite international warnings that the Middle East is on the brink of a regional war amid Israel's relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.
Israel has been conducting relentless airstrikes since Sept. 23 on what it claims to be Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.
Due to the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, at least 2,036 people have since been killed, over 9,500 injured and 1.2 million others displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
