A delegation of Arab and Muslim officials have called for a ceasefire in Gaza after arriving in Beijing Monday and being welcomed by China’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
His counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, as well as Indonesia and the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, have begun a tour of world capitals with the aim of ending Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The first stop in China is seen as a push by Beijing to step up its international role and comes months after mediating a detente that saw Saudi Arabia and Iran reestablish ties.
“China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang said on Monday. “We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab (and) Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people.”
After Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, which left 1,200 people dead, Israel retaliated with airstrikes and a ground offensive that has left at least 13,000 Gazans dead, thousands of them children. The Strip is home to around 2.2 million people, with at least 1.4 million now displaced due to the war.
“We are here to send a clear signal: that is we must immediately stop the fighting and the killings, we must immediately deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said. He stressed the need for international mobilization and added that the resolution issued by the U.N. Security Council on Nov. 15 calling for extended humanitarian pauses in Gaza was appreciated but insufficient.
Israel’s ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, said Monday that Israel has allowed necessary humanitarian aid into Gaza but that “putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed.”
The meeting comes nine days after an Islamic-Arab summit took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that gathered members of the Arab League and OIC. During the summit, leaders called on the International Criminal Court to look into the “war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing” in the Palestinian territories.
It was earlier reported that, China’s top diplomat welcomed four Arab foreign ministers and the Indonesian one to Beijing, saying his country would work with “our brothers and sisters” in the Arab and Islamic world to try to end the war in Gaza as soon as possible
China’s top diplomat welcomed four Arab foreign ministers and the Indonesian one to Beijing on Monday, saying his country would work with “our brothers and sisters” in the Arab and Islamic world to try to end the war in Gaza as soon as possible.
The ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia chose to start in Beijing a tour to permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a testament to both China’s growing geopolitical influence and its longstanding support for the Palestinians.
The tour aims to push for a cease-fire and propel the political process forward with the goal of lasting peace, as well as “hold the Israeli occupation accountable for the blatant violations and crimes in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank,” according to a statement published by the Saudi foreign ministry on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the foreign diplomats that their decision to start in Beijing shows their high level of trust in his nation.
“China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang said in opening remarks at a state guest house before their talks began. “We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab (and) Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people.”
China has long backed the Palestinians and been quick to denounce Israel over its settlements in the occupied territories. It has not criticized the initial Hamas attack on Oct.7 — which killed about 1,200 people — while the United States and others have called it an act of terrorism. However, China does have growing economic ties with Israel.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, called for an immediate cease-fire and the entry of humanitarian aid and relief to the Gaza Strip.
“There are still dangerous developments ahead of us and an urgent humanitarian crisis that requires an international mobilization to deal with and counter it,” he said.
He added they appreciated the resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council, calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in Gaza, “but we still need more efforts and cooperation.”
The visit came after Arab and Muslim leaders condemned the “brutal Israeli aggression” against the Palestinians at a rare joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation hosted by Saudi Arabia last week.
The secretary general of the OIC, Hissein Brahim Taha, is also accompanying them on the trip.
China — the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S. — has become increasingly outspoken on international affairs and even gotten directly involved in some recently, albeit cautiously.
In March, Beijing helped broker an agreement that saw Saudi Arabia and Iran reestablish ties after seven years of tension in a role previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the U.S. and Russia.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip have so far killed more than 11,500 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble.
“This isn’t Israel’s first war against the Palestinian people,” said Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister. “However, Israel wants this to be its last war, where it takes full control of the Palestinian people’s presence on what’s left of the historical land of Palestine.”
Israel’s ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, said Monday, that her country is allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza in collaboration with international organizations and that “putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed.”
She also said that they hoped for “no one-sided” resolution by the Security Council and that they expected a clear statement calling for the “unconditional release of the 240 hostages” who were abducted by Hamas during its attacks, “rather than calling for a cease-fire.”
