Advocate the Concept of Common Security
Promote Peace and Stability in the Middle East
Peace and security are the common pursuit of mankind. Today's world, however, is not peaceful, and the Gaza Strip is in the midst of the most serious humanitarian crisis in this century.
The current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has lasted for more than two months, causing death and destruction in Gaza not seen in the past 20 years. Nearly 20,000 civilians lost their lives, more than 8,000 people disappeared, and thousands of children became orphans. The entire northern Gaza area has become a battlefield, with 1.8 million people displaced and their lives in danger. As United Nations Secretary-General Guterres said: ‘The situation in Gaza is rapidly deteriorating into a disaster that may have irreversible effects on the Palestinian people, as well as peace and security in the region’.
The situation between Palestine and Israel affects the hearts of people around the world. Many countries, including Afghanistan, have expressed concern about the situation, condemned the violence against civilians, and called for an immediate humanitarian truce and the settlement of disputes through dialogue. However, the peace process in Gaza has not developed smoothly. The temporary ceasefire agreement only brought peace to the people of Gaza for just 8 days. The draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in the United Nations Security Council has been repeatedly blocked. Although at the 10th emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on December 12th, the resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was passed by an overwhelming vote, yet until now, Gaza is still suffering from air strikes and artillery shelling. Palestine, Israel and even the Red Sea region are still mired in war, with peace still far away.
Since the outbreak of this round of conflicts, China has been holding high the banner of promoting peace and talks, striving to achieve peace in the Middle East and save the lives of the people in the Middle East. President Xi Jinping stated China’s principled position on the current Palestinian-Israeli situation on a number of occasions. He stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire and ending the fighting, ensuring that the humanitarian corridors are safe and unimpeded, and preventing the expansion of the conflict. President Xi further pointed out that the fundamental way out of this lies in the “Two-state solution”, building international consensus for peace, and working toward a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date.
As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the rotating president in November, China has pushed the Security Council to pass the first resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli issue since the current round of conflict and since the end of 2016. On November 30, Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the Security Council's high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue in New York, promoting in-depth exchanges among all parties to build consensus and contribute to the ease of humanitarian crisis and achievement of cease fire in Gaza. China has also provided multiple batches of emergency humanitarian aid to Gaza to avoid further expansion of the humanitarian disaster.
The resumption of war between Palestine and Israel demonstrates that although the world has maintained overall peace for more than 70 years after the end of World War II, those factors that threaten human security have never disappeared. In order to eliminate the root causes of international conflicts, improve global security governance, and achieve lasting peace and development in the world, President Xi has proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and to work with all parties to implement a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept. The initiative has been widely welcomed and responded positively by the international community since it was proposed. It has received support and appreciation from more than 100 countries and organizations. In February this year, China also released the "GSI Concept Paper", which further explained the core concepts and principles of the GSI's "Six Persistences", clarified 20 key cooperation directions and 5 major categories of cooperation platforms and mechanisms, marking an important step towards the practice and implementation of the GSI.
Under the guidance of the GSI, China issued the "Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China on Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict", proposing to implement a comprehensive ceasefire and end the fighting, protect civilians effectively, ensure humanitarian assistance, enhance diplomatic mediation, and seek a political solution. The Paper contributes Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The development of the Palestinian-Israeli situation is ultimately due to the fact that the Palestinian people's rights to statehood, survive, and return to homeland have been ignored for a long time. The international community should continue to actively promote relevant parties to cease fire and end the war as soon as possible to avoid humanitarian disasters, and push the Palestinian issue back on the right track of the "Two-state solution" and achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting solution. China will actively implement the GSI, uphold the concept of common security, and firmly stand on the side of international fairness and justice. China will also work with the international community to build consensus on peace promotion and continue to make efforts to promote peace between Palestine-Israel and stability in the Middle East.