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Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has told Israel to stop its “forced establishment” of settlements in the West Bank and reverse its actions, his office said.<\/b><\/p>\n
The “Palestinian question” is “the greatest historical injustice of this century”, Wang told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a conference in Azerbaijan on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Beijing has been a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause and has maintained that a “two-state solution” is the “correct direction”.<\/p>\n
It has also been positioning itself as a mediator for conflicts in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
In 2023 Beijing brokered a deal to restore diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after years of hostility. Earlier this year, it was part of efforts, along with Pakistan, to propose a ceasefire in the US-Israel war against Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beijing’s efforts to tackle the war in Gaza have focused on Palestinian unity.<\/p>\n In 2024 Beijing got rival Palestinian factions to agree to form an interim “national reconciliation government”<\/a> for the occupied West Bank and Gaza after the war with Israel, although it was never implemented.<\/p>\n Now, Wang says the “immediate priority” is to fully open access to Gaza and stop the continued spread of a “humanitarian catastrophe”.<\/p>\n China is willing to work with the international community to get the parties to return to dialogue and “seek a political solution to the conflict”, Wang said. <\/p>\n In a post on X, Herzog said he was “pleased” to meet Wang and their talk “focused on the relations between our countries and the situation in the Middle East”.<\/p>\n “I emphasised Israel’s desire for peace in the region, alongside the strategic threats to our security, first and foremost from Iran and its terror proxies,” he wrote.<\/p>\n China maintains close ties with Iran and is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, which had previously come under US sanctions because of Tehran’s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n One year into the ceasefire, people in Gaza continue to live under the regular threat of Israeli strikes, displacement and food security challenges.<\/p>\n