Xi announces $69 million in aid for Gaza

(JNS) — Beijing will provide $69 million in aid to the Palestinians and an additional $3 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, Xi Jinping, the president of China, said on Thursday.

“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing people into tremendous suffering,” Xi said at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing, the Associated Press reported.

“War should not continue indefinitely,” he said.

Xi also said there should be an international conference to press for the end of the war.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also spoke at Thursday’s event. “I call on all active actors of the international community to assume their moral and legal responsibilities to stop the outrageous Israeli war,” he said.

The Chinese president said that “commitment to the two-state solution should not be wavered at will,” per state media, which added that Xi addressed leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates and foreign ministers of other Arab states.

He also said that China will host the second China-Arab States Summit in 2026. Saudi Arabia hosted the first summit in Riyadh in late 2022.

“We will, together with the Arab side, respect the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the independent choice of every nation and the reality formed in history, and strive together for solutions to hot spot issues that uphold fairness and justice and sustain peace and security,” Xi said.

Grant Rumley and Rebecca Redlich write in an analysis on the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy: “In almost every conflict between Hamas and Israel, China’s messaging has followed a familiar pattern: urge all parties to exercise restraint, reiterate the importance of the two-state solution and pledge commitment to supporting peace negotiations, typically through an international conference.

“The latest Gaza war has seen a shift in these talking points,” they note. “Besides the usual calls for implementing a ceasefire, returning to negotiations, and fulfilling the two-state solution, Beijing has been more direct in criticizing Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack.”