Palestinians call for China to step up pressure on Israel as they seek an end to ‘collective punishment’ on Gazans

Name: Gaza’s Rafah zoo: Humanitarian crisis takes toll on both people and wildlife
Uploaded: 2024-02-25T22:00:25.000Z
Duration: 3 min 2 s
Description: Gaza’s Rafah zoo: Humanitarian crisis takes toll on both people and wildlife

A third US blocking of a call for a ceasefire and Western posture on the Israel-Gaza war prompt Palestinians to turn to China for help

Observers say a more active Global South can counter misleading portrayals of ceasefire demands as Chinese or Russian-led bids to destabilise the West

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Cyril Ip

Published: 6:00am, 26 Feb 2024Updated: 2:05pm, 26 Feb 2024

As Israel prepares for a new ground incursion into Rafah, the southern Gaza border city where more than a million people are trapped, close to 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, with over one-third of those infants or children.

A ceasefire and the two-state solution, which China has persevered with despite Israel’s rejection, are seen as largely unattainable by Palestinians. They want Beijing to be more precise and forceful in its support for their liberation, as they say it has become increasingly clear that the Western position does not align with theirs.

While China cannot “resolve” the conflict, as a superpower and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it could “do more to mitigate” it, according to Razan Shawamreh, a doctoral researcher of international relations at the Eastern Mediterranean University.

“The Palestinian sense of marginalisation and vulnerability, stemming from US policies that support Israel’s crimes, have prompted them to find potential alternatives for support and solidarity, and they find it in China,” the Cyprus-based Palestinian academic said.

Beijing’s reactions signified both its support as well as its policy of not interfering or meddling in other countries’ affairs. But that should not be construed as an unwillingness to facilitate negotiations in international conflicts, Shawamreh said.

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Gaza’s Rafah zoo: Humanitarian crisis takes toll on both people and wildlife

In November, President Xi Jinping called for an end to the “collective punishment against the people of Gaza” with Beijing later issuing its formal position paper on the conflict, urging a comprehensive ceasefire and the establishment of a UN conference to draw up a road map for a two-state solution.

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