China Urges Iran, Israel to ‘Immediately’ Take Steps to Cool Tensions 

A young boy walks through the debris at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
A young boy walks through the debris at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
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China Urges Iran, Israel to ‘Immediately’ Take Steps to Cool Tensions 

A young boy walks through the debris at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
A young boy walks through the debris at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)

China urged Iran and Israel to "immediately" take steps to reduce tensions on Monday after Tehran unleashed a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities and Israel struck military targets deep inside Iran.

"We urge all parties to immediately take measures to cool down the tensions, prevent the region from falling into greater turmoil, and create conditions for returning to the right track of resolving issues through dialogue and negotiations," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

Israel's surprise assault on Iran last week, launched after decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations, has touched off the most intense fighting yet and triggered fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the Middle East.

Israel says its attacks have hit military and nuclear facilities and killed many top Iranian commanders and atomic scientists, although a senior US official said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump told Israel to back down from a plan to kill supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi held phone calls with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts on Saturday, the foreign ministry said, in which he made clear to both Beijing's support for Tehran.

China enjoys close ties with Iran, being its largest commercial partner and the main buyer of its oil with Tehran still under crushing US sanctions.

Guo said on Monday "all relevant parties should immediately take steps to put the brakes on the escalation and to cool down the tensions".

"Force cannot bring lasting peace," he said.

"China will continue to maintain communication with the relevant parties, and promote peace and encourage dialogue, to prevent further turbulence in the region," he said.



Netanyahu Says he Believes Trump Can Help Seal Ceasefire Deal

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Netanyahu Says he Believes Trump Can Help Seal Ceasefire Deal

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed his discussions with US President Donald Trump on Monday would help advance talks on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal that Israeli negotiators resumed in Qatar on Sunday.

Israeli negotiators taking part in the ceasefire talks have clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire agreement under conditions that Israel has accepted, Netanyahu said on Sunday before boarding his flight to Washington.

"I believe the discussion with President Trump can certainly help advance these results," he said, adding that he was determined to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza and to remove the threat of Hamas to Israel.

It will be Netanyahu's third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.

Public pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire and end the war in Gaza, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. Others, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, have expressed support.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a "positive spirit", a few days after Trump said Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalize" a 60-day truce.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Netanyahu's office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were "not acceptable to Israel". However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to "continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to".

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.

Netanyahu said he believed he and Trump would also build on the outcome of the 12-day air war with Iran last month and seek to further ensure that Tehran never has a nuclear weapon. He said recent Middle East developments had created an opportunity to widen the circle of peace.

On Saturday evening, crowds gathered at a public square in Tel Aviv near the defense ministry headquarters to call for a ceasefire deal and the return of around 50 hostages still held in Gaza. The demonstrators waved Israeli flags, chanted and carried posters with photos of the hostages.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, displaced the population, mostly within Gaza, and left the territory in ruins.

Around 20 of the remaining hostages are believed to be still alive. A majority of the original hostages have been freed through diplomatic negotiations, though the Israeli military has also recovered some.