China’s Wang Yi urges Israel to end West Bank settlement expansion and ease Gaza crisis

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Israel to halt and reverse West Bank settlement expansion and called for an immediate easing of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in a meeting with Israel’s president on Thursday.

“The imperative priority is to fully open access routes into Gaza. Two million civilians must not be left to struggle on the brink of survival, nor can this humanitarian catastrophe be allowed to spread,” Wang said, according to a statement released by China’s foreign ministry on Friday.

It marked Beijing’s highest-level engagement with Israel since October 2023, when the latest Israel-Gaza war broke out.

According to figures cited by UN agencies relying on Gaza health authorities, since October 2023, more than 70,000 people in Gaza have been killed, including 20,000 children, and over 100,000 have been injured.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents remain displaced, with vast swathes of the enclave reduced to rubble and the region recording the highest proportion of child amputees globally.

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Despite a ceasefire reached in October last year easing conditions somewhat, the UN reported that Israeli aid restrictions and near-daily deadly attacks persist.

On Thursday, Wang urged Israel to halt and reverse its forced settlement expansion in the West Bank – referring to Israeli communities built in territory occupied since 1967.

Deemed illegal under international law, rapidly expanding Israeli settlements continue to fuel territorial disputes over land designated for a future Palestinian state.

Calling the Palestinian issue “the greatest historical injustice of this century”, Wang stressed that a two-state solution remained the only viable path forward.

The framework envisages an independent state of Palestine existing peacefully alongside the state of Israel, based on pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

Sino-Israeli relations have been strained since the war. While Beijing has consistently advocated for a two-state solution, Israel has voiced disappointment that China did not explicitly condemn Hamas, a Palestinian militant group and former de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip.

During Thursday’s meeting, Wang invoked the memory of Herzog’s late father, Chaim Herzog, who served as Israel’s sixth president and played a pivotal role in establishing formal diplomatic ties between the two countries, becoming the first Israeli head of state to visit China in 1992.

A separate read-out released by the Israeli government said Herzog on Thursday highlighted the strategic threats facing Israel across the region, particularly from “Iran and its terror proxies”.

The Israeli president underscored the importance of Sino-Israeli relations, particularly in trade, economics and culture, it added.

According to the Chinese read-out, Herzog referred to China as an important constructive force in global and regional peace, praising Beijing’s efforts to foster regional stability and conveying a readiness to maintain close communication.

Separately on the summit’s sidelines, Wang held bilateral talks with Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, pledging China’s continued support for the Palestinian cause and urging international backing for a two-state solution.

Beijing’s top diplomat said the Gaza crisis should not be marginalised amid wider regional escalation.

Aghabekian Shahin said the Palestinian people hoped to keep deepening relations with China, expecting Beijing to continue upholding justice on the Palestinian issue and play a more prominent role in realising the two-state solution.