China calls for comprehensive, immediate ceasefire in Gaza

China's Foreign Ministry reiterated on Tuesday its calls for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Calling for an end to the "collective punishment" faced by civilians trapped within the conflict, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN Geng Shuang expressed Beijing's displeasure at the United States' decision to veto the latest calls for a resolution.

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"Secretary-General Guterres has repeatedly warned that Gaza, currently engulfed in gunfire, fails to meet the prerequisites for UN agencies to provide humanitarian aid," said Geng. 

"China urges Israel to stop indiscriminate military attacks, stop collective punishment against the people of Gaza, and provide necessary conditions for humanitarian agencies to carry out assistance in Gaza," he continued.

"International peace and security are being threatened. Only a ceasefire in Gaza can fundamentally eliminate the spillover effects of the conflict and prevent the wider Middle East from being dragged into a war and conflict. Upholding a two-state solution requires an immediate ceasefire."

Geng's remarks came in contrast to those of his Washington DC counterpart, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who continued to back Israel's incursions into the enclave.

"We don't support a ceasefire at this time. And there's no change to that, because we don't believe it benefits anybody but Hamas right now," said Kirby, who insisted the U.S. was in favor of "humanitarian pauses but not a general ceasefire right now."

Rising casualties

The conflicting calls came as 126 Palestinians were killed and 241 more were wounded, according to Gazan health ministry figures, with the Israeli Defense Force also reporting the death of nine of its soldiers.

In all, 23,210 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, while 1,398 Israelis have also been killed since the beginning of the conflict.

Blinken meets with Israelis, Palestinians

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli officials and their Palestinian counterparts in his fourth excursion to the embattled region since the onset of the clashes.

In Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Blinken urged Israeli lawmakers to make "hard choices" to normalize relations with more of its neighbors, a new appeal to smooth the path to creating a Palestinian state, urging Israel to support Palestinian leaders willing to live peacefully alongside Israelis.

Blinken then traveled to Ramallah Wednesday to meet with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the West Bank and Gaza's future administration.

Blinken spoke with Abbas on the PA's responsibility to reform itself and improve its governance, and the role it would play in the Gaza enclave once current conflicts come to a simmer.

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