China, Russia Plan to Work Together for Two-State Solution for Palestinians, Israel

Smoke rises in the northern Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 20 October 2023. (EPA)
Smoke rises in the northern Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 20 October 2023. (EPA)
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China, Russia Plan to Work Together for Two-State Solution for Palestinians, Israel

Smoke rises in the northern Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 20 October 2023. (EPA)
Smoke rises in the northern Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 20 October 2023. (EPA)

China and Russia share the same position on the Palestinian issue and plan to try to work together to cool the situation and help establish a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, a top Chinese envoy said Friday.

Zhai Jun, China’s special envoy to the Middle East, spoke after a meeting Thursday in Qatar with Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian president’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa.

“The fundamental reason for the current situation of the Palestine-Israel conflict is that the Palestinian people’s lawful national rights have not been guaranteed,” Zhai said, according to a statement released on Friday by the Chinese foreign ministry.

“China and Russia have the same position on the Palestine question, and China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with Russia to promote de-escalation of the situation,” Zhai said.

The two countries want to “play a positive role in resuming talks for peace between Palestine and Israel, truly implementing the two-state solution, and promoting a comprehensive, just and enduring solution to the Palestinian question at an early date,” Zhai said.

China sent Zhai to the Middle East to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the latest sign of its ambition to play a larger role in the region.

The two sides confirmed their “unwavering focus on closely coordinating efforts for the political settlement of this and other crises in the Middle East and North Africa region,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, according to the country’s Tass state news agency.

China, which sees the US as too pro-Israel, has said it opposes attacks on civilians, but hasn't condemned the initial Hamas attack that started the latest war. Instead, it has called for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians as Israel bombards Gaza before a possible ground invasion.

“We believe that when dealing with hot spot issues in the international community, major powers should be objective and impartial,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday.

In his meeting with Bogdanov, Zhai said Beijing was saddened by “a great number of civilian casualties caused by the Palestine-Israel conflict and the sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Palestine.”

Beijing describes Hamas as a “resistance movement,” not as a terrorist group as Israel and other countries do.

Analysts say that China wants to position itself as a mediator and exert its influence in the region as the US shifts its global attention elsewhere. But the latest Gaza war has drawn the US back in, with President Joe Biden visiting Israel this week.

Zhai also met with Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that Zhai would travel to other Middle Eastern countries, but she didn't give any further details.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week that “Egypt and other Arab countries highly appreciate China’s consistent and just position on the Palestinian question and expect China to play a bigger role in solving the current crisis,” according to a Chinese statement on their meeting.

Xi told Madbouly, who was in Beijing to attend a forum on China’s Belt and Road infrastructure-building initiative, that the top priority is to stop the fighting and prevent it from causing a severe humanitarian crisis.

He said China “stands ready to strengthen coordination with Egypt and other Arab countries to work for a comprehensive, just and enduring solution to the Palestinian question,” the Chinese statement said.



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.