عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

China Favors Palestinians, Israel Resuming Peace Talks

A Palestinian man pictured at the last Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, 14 April 2023. (EPA)
A Palestinian man pictured at the last Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, 14 April 2023. (EPA)
TT
TT

China Favors Palestinians, Israel Resuming Peace Talks

A Palestinian man pictured at the last Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, 14 April 2023. (EPA)
A Palestinian man pictured at the last Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, 14 April 2023. (EPA)

China is highly concerned about heightened Israeli-Palestinian conflict and favors the two sides resuming peace talks as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Monday.

Qin, in separate phone calls with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, said China is willing to play a constructive role in promoting peace in the region, according to statements posted by China's foreign ministry.

US-brokered peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza -territories Israel captured in a 1967 war - have stalled for almost a decade and show no sign of revival.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
TT
TT

Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.