\u201cIsrael\u2019s actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defence,\u201d Wang said according to a foreign ministry readout
\nBEIJING
\nIsrael\u2019s actions in Gaza have gone \u201cbeyond the scope of self-defence\u201d and the Israeli government must \u201ccease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza\u201d, China\u2019s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in remarks published on Sunday.
\nWang\u2019s remarks, made on a call to his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday, came as Israel appeared poised for a ground offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza. \u201cIsrael\u2019s actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defence,\u201d Wang said according to a foreign ministry readout.
\nChina has increasingly positioned itself as a mediator in the Middle East, brokering a restoration of ties in March between Saudi Arabia and key Hamas backer Iran.
\n\u201c(Israel) should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza,\u201d Wang added in what is the strongest stance China has expressed so far on the conflict.
\nMore than one million people in the northern part of the crowded enclave of Gaza have been ordered to flee ahead of the expected assault, an exodus that aid groups said would set off a humanitarian disaster.
\nThe cramped and impoverished territory, where 2.3 million residents live on top of each other, has been under a land, air and sea blockade since 2006.
\nAfter Hamas fighters broke through the heavily fortified border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to gun down, stab and burn to death more than 1,300 people, Israel launched a massive retaliatory bombing campaign targeting the Islamist group that has killed over 2,200 in Gaza. Most of those killed on both sides are civilians.
\nWang told Prince Faisal that \u201call parties should not take any action to escalate the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible\u201d.
\nOn Saturday, Wang held a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had called on China to use its influence in the Middle East to push for calm in the region.
\nWang urged \u201cthe convening of an international peace meeting as soon as possible to promote the reaching of broad consensus\u201d, according to Beijing\u2019s readout of the conversation. Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a senior research fellow at the Asia Centre in Paris, said Beijing was \u201cmore influential (in the Middle East) than ten years or twenty years ago mainly because of its economic footprint there but also its diplomatic activism\u201d.
\nBut \u201cits good relations with Israel, especially in the technological sector, limits Beijing\u2019s room for manoeuvre\u201d, he told AFP.
\nChina\u2019s official statements on the conflict have not specifically named Hamas in their condemnations of violence, leading to criticism from some Western officials who said they were too weak.
\nThe country\u2019s state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday that China\u2019s special envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East next week to push for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and promote peace talks.
\nZhai \u201cwill visit the Middle East next week to coordinate with various parties for a ceasefire, to protect civilians, ease the situation, and promote peace talks\u201d, CCTV said in a video posted to its official social media account on Sunday.
\nZhai said in an interview with CCTV that \u201cthe prospect of further broadening and outward spillover (of the conflict) is deeply worrying\u201d, according to the broadcaster.
\nZhai met on Friday with the Arab League\u2019s representatives in China and said Beijing supported the regional group \u201cin playing an important role on the Palestine issue\u201d, according to a foreign ministry statement.
\nHe told the bloc that Beijing would \u201cmake unremitting efforts to get the Middle East peace process back on track\u201d, the statement added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIsrael\u2019s actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defence,\u201d Wang said according to a foreign ministry readout BEIJING Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza have gone \u201cbeyond the scope of self-defence\u201d and the Israeli government must \u201ccease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza\u201d, China\u2019s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in remarks published on Sunday. Wang\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-362076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n