[The above image has been posted on X by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). A matter of life and death: water runs out for 2 million people in Gaza, it wrote.]
Beijing: China Saturday October 14, 2023 called for an “international peace meeting” to end the Israel-Palestinian crisis and restore peace in the region even as the United States ensured its "unwavering support" to Israel.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the proposal to hold the international conference for peace in Palestine while talking to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Saturday.
Speaking with Blinken by phone, Wang Yi said:
“The Palestinian-Israel conflict is escalating and risks getting out of control”.
The Chinese Foreign Minister told Blinken that "his country opposes all acts that harm civilians and condemns practices that violate international law", news agency Reuters reported citing a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
According to BBC, Antony Blinken in the tele-conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi sought Bejing’s help in ensuring that the Israel-Hamas conflict does not extend to other countries in the Middle East.
Responding to this, Wang said Washington should "play a constructive and responsible role".
"When dealing with international hot-spot issues, major countries must adhere to objectivity and fairness, maintain calmness and restraint, and take the lead in abiding by international law," said Wang Yi.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi commenting on the latest escalation between Israel and Hamas said Palestine issue is crux of the Middle East affairs and called for the "realisation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians".
Wang Yi after meeting with EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell, who was in Beijing earlier this week, said the cause of the Israel-Hamas conflict was “historical injustice” against Palestinians.
“The root of this problem lies in the long delay in the realisation of Palestine’s aspiration to establish an independent state, and in the fact that the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people has not been corrected,” he told reporters.
Despite the immense pressure from different parts of the world to end the Israeli trageting of the Palestinians, the United States has assured "unwavering support" to Israel.
“The US will make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself”, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said as the Israeli forces prepared for new assaults on Gaza. “We will stand with Israel even as we stand with Ukraine. US security assistance to Israel will flow in at the speed of war,” Austin said while speaking at a press briefing in Tel Aviv with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant Friday.
“The US will make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself”, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said as the Israeli forces prepared for new assaults on Gaza.
“We will stand with Israel even as we stand with Ukraine. US security assistance to Israel will flow in at the speed of war,” Austin said while speaking at a press briefing in Tel Aviv with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant Friday.
He said munitions, air defence capabilities and other equipment and resources were coming into Israel.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab has verified that “Israeli military units striking Gaza are equipped with white phosphorus artillery rounds”.
The rights group said it was “investigating what appears to be the use of white phosphorus in Gaza, including in a strike near a hotel on the beach in Gaza City”.
Earlier, Human Rights Watch said Israel has used white phosphorus in its continuing military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at serious risk.
In a related development, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a representative body of 57 Muslim countries, has called a meeting of its Executive Committee on Wednesday October 18, 2023 to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza following the round-the-clock bombing by the Israeli troops.
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