At BRICS meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza

At BRICS-Plus meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for immediate ceasefire and suspension of hostilities in Israel-Palestinian conflict. EAM Jaishankar condemns killing of civilians, but stops short of echoing Chinese demand. Xi urges safe passage for humanitarian relief, restoration of water, energy, and electricity in Palestinian enclave. He also calls for two-state solution, restoration of Palestinian rights, and establishment of independent Palestine. PM Modi absent from meeting, EAM Jaishankar expresses India's concern and calls for direct and meaningful negotiation. All parties urged to stop violence, attacks on civilians, and release detainees to prevent further loss of life.

All parties involved in the Israel-Palestinian conflict should immediately ceasefire and suspend hostilities, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared on November 21. At the same meeting of the BRICS group, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar condemned the killing of civilians in the conflict, but stopped short of echoing the Chinese demand for a ceasefire in Gaza.

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Addressing the extraordinary virtual meeting of the grouping on the Gaza crisis, Mr. Xi called for safe passage for humanitarian relief and pressed for an end to the forced relocation of the Gaza Strip’s civilian population. The supply of water, energy, and electricity must also be restored in the Palestinian enclave, which has been battered by Israeli bombs, he emphasised.

The Chinese President said that the only way out of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian crisis is to implement the two-state solution, “restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation”, and establish a sovereign and independent State of Palestine. He cautioned that without a fair solution of the Palestinian question, there can be no lasting peace and stability in West Asia.

Beijing’s declaration is significant as it comes soon after the Foreign Ministers of the Arab League and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia and Jordan met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Chinese capital. They had called for a halt to the hostilities that have left more than 11,000 people in Gaza dead, a third of them children, and about 1.7 million homeless.

Mr. Xi urged all parties in the raging conflict to stop “all violence and attacks targeting civilians and release civilian detainees” to stop the loss of any more lives. He urged Israel to stop targeting Palestinian civilians “as a collective punishment”. The Chinese President also called on the international community to take concrete steps to prevent any further escalation of the conflict that could impact the stability of the entire region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend Tuesday’s virtual summit of the BRICS-Plus grouping that was held to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. The External Affairs Minister represented the PM at the virtual meeting and expressed India’s concern about the situation in Gaza and called for “direct and meaningful negotiation” between the Israeli authorities and the Palestinians.