Beijing urged Israel to “stop its military operations as soon as possible.”
Beijing:
China on Tuesday urged Israel to halt military operations in the Gaza city of Rafah “as soon as possible” and warned that a “serious humanitarian disaster” would occur there if the fighting did not stop.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: “China pays close attention to the developments in the Rafah area and opposes and condemns actions that harm civilians and violate international law.”
Beijing urged Israel to “stop military operations as soon as possible and make every effort to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and prevent a more serious humanitarian disaster in the Rafah area.”
Israel is facing growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas as it prepares to invade Gaza’s southern border city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are trapped.
After rejecting Hamas’s truce terms last week, Israel launched a pre-dawn raid in Rafah on Monday, freeing two hostages and killing about 100 people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the overnight operation as “perfect,” while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the deaths of dozens of Gazans amounted to a “massacre.”
The rare rescue mission amid heavy airstrikes came hours after Netanyahu spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden, who reiterated his opposition to a major attack on Rafah.
The United Nations has also warned Israel against launching a ground offensive in Rafah without a plan to protect civilians, who say they have nowhere to go.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
