China asks Israel to end ‘forced establishment’ of settlements in West Bank | Israeli-Palestinian conflict News

“The Palestinian issue constitutes the greatest historical injustice of this century,” said the Chinese foreign minister.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in Azerbaijan that Israel should stop and reverse its “forced creation” of settlements in the West Bank, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Wang told Herzog that China has always regarded the Palestinian issue as the greatest historical injustice of this century, the ministry said in a statement Friday.

Wang stressed that the “two-state solution” is the right path to a resolution and said the immediate priority is to fully open access to the Gaza Strip so that a humanitarian “catastrophe” cannot spread.

Wang added that China is ready to work with the international community to push all parties to resume dialogue as soon as possible and seek a political settlement.

Wang is attending the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, as President Xi Jinping’s special representative, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.

China calls for new Middle East framework

In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Cairo for the first time in a decade and called on Middle Eastern countries to oppose outside influence and consider reshaping the region’s security order.

Xi’s rare visit comes as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

The discussions focused on the US-Israeli war against Iran, with both presidents calling for “diplomatic solutions” to reach a “comprehensive agreement to end the war”, according to a statement by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s spokesman.

In March, China criticized US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Beijing demanding an immediate end to the joint attacks. Wang told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that the attack on Iran came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran had “made significant progress, including addressing Israel’s security concerns,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the war began.

China was Iran’s largest trading partner, buying up to 90 percent of its oil, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. In 2021, Beijing signed a 25-year “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement” with Tehran.

At the same time, Beijing has spent the past decade cultivating closer ties with Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and remains a major trading partner of the United States and Israel.