China urges U.S. to push Israel to cease military operations in Gaza

A senior Chinese diplomat urged the United States to use its influence to push Israel to carry out UN resolutions to cease its military operations in Gaza at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday.

"We urge the U.S. to show a responsible attitude, use the significant influence it holds over the party (Israel), and take tangible actions to push Israel to cease its military operations without delay, as demanded by the Council resolutions, to give the long-suffering Palestinian people a chance to live," Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine question.

"Had the United States not stood in the way on all those occasions, the Council could have adopted a resolution demanding a ceasefire early on after the conflict erupted. Had the U.S. not shielded one side time and again, multiple resolutions of this Council would not have been flagrantly rejected and defied," Geng said.

Geng added that despite the four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice orders on provisional measures, and the huge efforts of the UN and other humanitarian agencies, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has been constantly worsening, and violations of international law, in particular international humanitarian law, have persisted unabated.

Noting that a UN convoy supporting the polio vaccination campaign, approved by Israel, was forcibly detained for nearly eight hours and that six employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East were killed in an airstrike last week, Geng said China strongly condemns such appalling attacks on humanitarian agencies and personnel, which are unacceptable.

Speaking about the polio vaccination campaign, Geng said it is a telling proof that when the parties show political will, scaling up humanitarian operations in Gaza is perfectly achievable.

China renews its call for Israel to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law by putting lives and humanity first, immediately lifting the blockade, opening all crossings, scrapping restrictions on humanitarian deliveries, ceasing attacks on UN and other humanitarian agencies, and providing safe and unimpeded access to the operations of those agencies, the Chinese diplomat said.

"We are now near the first anniversary of the conflict in Gaza. Over the past year, despite strong joint international calls for a ceasefire and the cessation of killings, Israel has not halted its military operations, which have led to the death of over 41,000 Palestinian civilians."

China supports further actions by the UN Security Council to extinguish the flames of war, mitigate the humanitarian disaster, and bring peace to the region as soon as possible, Geng said.