China urged restraint by relevant parties over escalating conflict in Gaza as the death toll from air strikes mounted to nearly a hundred.
“We strongly urge relevant parties, in particular Israel, to exercise maximum restraint, reach an immediate ceasefire, and avoid taking any actions to escalate the situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chinying told AFP.
This comes as Israel’s offense against Palestinian militant group Hamas rages into a sixth day amid international efforts to broker a truce.
The UN Security Council permanent member called on parties to put an end to the clashes which have recently killed at least 87 civilians, AFP reports. Beijing urged the international community to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“China is extremely concerned about Israel’s continued large-scale military operations towards the Gaza strip. We condemn the over-use of force causing deaths and injuries amongst innocent ordinary people,” Hua said during a news briefing.
China also backed Palestine in its push for statehood, saying that it “supports Arab countries’ just position on the Israel-Arab issue”.
Despite calls for an immediate ceasefire, China refrained from playing an active role as it opposes intervention in the internal affairs of other nations.
