China offers to work with Egypt to end Israel-Gaza conflict

Special envoy for Middle East affairs reiterates China’s position for two-state solution and concern about civilian casualties to Egyptian assistant minister
Beijing has refrained from taking sides in disputes in the Middle East, portraying itself as a friend to both Israel and Palestine

Israel-Gaza war

Alyssa Chen

Published: 3:45pm, 11 Oct 2023

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China’s Middle East envoy says Beijing is willing to coordinate with Egypt to reach an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict and avoid worsening the region’s humanitarian crisis in his first remarks since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.

China’s special envoy for Middle East affairs Zhai Jun spoke to Osama Khedr, the assistant minister of the Palestine department in Egypt’s foreign ministry, in a phone call on Tuesday.

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The conversation came after Israel on Monday pledged a “complete siege” of Gaza. By Wednesday, the most recent escalation of the decades-old conflict had claimed more than 2,000 Israeli and Palestinian lives.

According to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, Zhai reiterated China’s long-time position of advocating the two-state solution, and expressed deep concern about civilian casualties in the conflict.

“China is willing to maintain communication and coordination with Egypt, and to promote an immediate ceasefire and cessation of violence between the conflicting parties,” Zhai said.

He said China was willing to provide humanitarian support to the Palestinian people in an attempt to stem the humanitarian crisis.

Beijing has refrained from taking sides in disputes in the Middle East, portraying itself as a friend to both Israel and Palestine. Chinese President Xi Jinping has not spoken with either Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas since the crisis began on Saturday.

Historically, China has aligned towards Palestine and the two-state solution because of China’s support for national liberation movements during the Cold War.

“The fundamental solution lies in implementing the two-state solution, and the international community should make practical efforts with the utmost sense of urgency to promote it,” Zhai was quoted as saying in the statement.

The Chinese statement said the Egyptian official hailed China’s “long-standing fair position” on the issue and urged the two-state solution as fundamental to resolving the crisis. It said the Egyptian side looked forward to working with China to help de-escalate the situation.

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Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was in contact with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the situation just hours after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Saturday. Since then, Shoukry has maintained frequent contact with senior officials from several countries, including Spain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Russia.

In recent years, Egypt has been a key mediator in the region.

In May 2021, Cairo brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after 11 days of rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

In an effort to minimise civilian casualties, the United States is working with other nations on a proposal that enables Palestinian civilians and Americans in Gaza to escape from the war zone through a southern corridor into Egypt, according to NBC News.

Blinken will travel to Israel and Jordan on Wednesday to display US solidarity and support for Israel.