Chinese Envoy Calls for Full Implementation of Gaza Ceasefire

China has called on all parties, especially Israel, to fully implement the ceasefire agreement and achieve a genuine and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, a Chinese envoy to the United Nations (UN) said on Monday. “History has repeatedly shown that security is indivisible. No country can build its own security upon the insecurity of others. Occupation and military pressure can never bring about lasting peace,” Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council briefing reviewing Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank and the situation in Gaza. Israel must fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law as the occupying power, lift restrictions on humanitarian access, and support and facilitate the delivery of aid by humanitarian agencies, including the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), he said. Fu also stated that tensions in the West Bank must be de-escalated and that the two-state solution is the only viable path to resolving the Palestinian issue. The international community should build greater consensus and revive the prospects for a two-state solution, rejecting any attempts to alter the demographic composition or territorial status of Palestine. He added that all unilateral actions undermining the foundation of the two-state solution must be opposed, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and possessing full sovereignty, should be supported as soon as possible. “We call on all parties to place the well-being of the Palestinian people and peace and stability in the Middle East above all else, and to work together so that a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue can be achieved promptly. China remains committed to making unremitting efforts towards this goal,” Fu said.