China backs UNSC on Gaza truce

China said it supports the United Nations Security Council to renew its push for an immediate cease-fire and a sustained flow of assistance to the Gaza Strip, while stating that military activities and a lack of safe routes continue to impede humanitarian operations.

Its call came amid renewed mass displacements in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, at the behest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has insisted that the Palestinian militant group Hamas must be obliterated and all hostages returned before Israel ends its military offensive, which is nearing its ninth month.

At the UN Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, on Tuesday, Fu Cong, permanent representative of China to the UN, said: "The council adopted Resolution 2720 with the intent to expand at scale humanitarian access, but it has clearly not materialized."

Fu said it was "necessary to examine" why the resolution, which was passed in December, "has not been effectively implemented" and called for hard work to push for political will.

He urged Israel to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law, heed the overwhelming call of the international community, and take concrete actions to ensure the rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, and he also called for ensuring the safe and orderly distribution of humanitarian supplies throughout Gaza, and cooperating fully with the UN and other humanitarian organizations.

"China calls on the international community to continue to make unremitting efforts to that end. We support the council in taking further necessary action as soon as possible," Fu said.

UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday that an estimated 250,000 people are set to be impacted by the new Israeli evacuation orders from Khan Younis on Monday, which had caused panic and chaos among residents.

Sigrid Kaag, the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, said on Tuesday that the conflict "has not merely created a humanitarian crisis, it has unleashed a maelstrom of human misery" and stressed that international humanitarian and human rights laws must be respected by all.

She also noted that public services in Gaza have collapsed and more than 1.9 million have been displaced.

Devastating blow

Louise Wateridge, senior communications officer at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said the Khan Younis displacement is "another devastating blow to the humanitarian response", including families on the ground as "it seems that they've been forcibly displaced again and again".

The International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Israel and the occupied territories, in a statement on its X account, said the reality is that "there is no safe place in Gaza".

Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu dismissed reports that Israel was inclined to agree to a cease-fire even if Hamas was still in power. His denial was made via a video posted on his X account, along with the same statements published on his office website.

"Anonymous sources briefed The New York Times that Israel will be prepared to end the war before all of its objectives are achieved. I do not know who these anonymous sources are, but I am here to make it unequivocally clear: This will not happen," said Netanyahu.

"The war will end once Israel achieves all of its objectives, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of all of our hostages," he added.

Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, told China Daily: "Israel orders Palestinians to leave Khan Younis, the city they have razed before. Israel has done this many times, telling residents to move to places it calls 'safe' but then bombing those exact places."

She said that "Israel has absolutely no good intentions to save civilians".

After nine months have passed, she added that it is "a shame" that the international community is still "unable to stop the crimes of an entity" as most of its weapons supplies come from foreign countries.

Israeli forces bombed and battled Hamas in Gaza City on Wednesday. Israeli forces carried out new military strikes in the southern city of Rafah amid fierce fighting with Palestinian militants overnight, residents said.

At least 12 people were killed in new strikes in central and northern Gaza, health officials said.