Pressure mounts on Israel for Gaza ceasefire as China warns of ‘serious humanitarian disaster’
- China urges Israel to stop its military operation in Gaza’s Rafah ‘as soon as possible’
- Israel has described the southern city as the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza
Israel faced growing international pressure on Tuesday to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, as it planned an incursion into the southern Gaza city Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are trapped.
China urged Israel to stop its military operation in Rafah “as soon as possible”, warning of a “serious humanitarian disaster” there if fighting did not stop.
“China follows closely the developments in the Rafah area, opposes and condemns actions that harm civilians and violate international law,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Beijing urged Israel to “to stop its military operation as soon as possible, (and) make every effort to avoid innocent civilian casualties, in order to prevent a more serious humanitarian disaster in the Rafah area”.
CIA Director William Burns was due in Cairo on Tuesday for a new round of talks on a Qatari-mediated ceasefire that would temporarily halt fighting in exchange for Hamas freeing hostages.
His planned visit comes after Washington and the United Nations warned Israel against carrying out a ground offensive into Rafah without a plan to protect civilians, who say they have nowhere left to go.