China urged the Israeli government to stop its retaliatory response to a brutal terrorist attack by Hamas.
The Chinese regime urged the Israeli government to stop its military actions in Gaza, saying Israel has “gone beyond self-defense” in response to the surprise attack by the Hamas terrorist group last week.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi delivered the message during a Saturday phone call with Saudi Arabian counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
“Israel’s actions have gone beyond self-defense,” Mr. Wang claimed, urging the Israeli government to stop what he called “collective punishment of civilians in Gaza,” according to the readout from China’s foreign ministry.
The conversation came after the Israeli foreign ministry sharply criticized Beijing’s lack of condemnation for Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel a week ago, killing over 1,000 civilians and capturing up to 150 more as hostages.
“There was no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a readout of a phone call between Israeli ambassador Rafi Harpaz and China’s special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun.
Mr. Harpaz has expressed “Israel’s deep disappointment” to Mr. Zhai, the ministry said.
The Chinese regime has refrained from denouncing the Palestinian terror group. In the wake of the Oct. 7 strike by Hamas on Israel, the communist regime’s first response was to call on “relevant parties” to “stay calm” and “exercise restraint.” Without naming Hamas, the statement said Beijing was “deeply concerned” about the escalation of tensions and violence and made calls for a two-state resolution, drawing criticism from United States and Israeli officials who said it lacked sympathy for the Israeli victims.
“When people are being murdered, slaughtered in the streets, this is not the time to call for a two-state solution,” Yuval Waks, a senior official at the Israeli embassy in Beijing, said during a briefing on Oct. 8.
Facing pressure, China’s foreign ministry issued a new statement, saying that the regime condemned such acts against civilians. The updated statement, however, still avoids mentioning Hamas by name.
By Dorothy Li
