By Huan Yuping, People’s Daily
Since the outbreak of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the escalating situation has drawn global attention. The large-scale civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian crises are questioning the conscience of humanity.
Currently, the fighting continues and lives are still being lost, and the spillover effect is impacting regional peace and stability.
The international community generally hopes that the parties to the conflict will cease fire and return to the track of negotiation as soon as possible, so as to create opportunities for peace and prevent an even worse humanitarian disaster.
In recent days, the number of casualties resulting from the conflict has continued to rise, and the living conditions of the people in Gaza have been deteriorating.
A deadly blast at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza has resulted in heavy casualties. Such acts of killing and maiming innocent lives must be unanimously rejected and condemned by the international community.
Faced with a complex and extremely urgent situation, all parties must prioritize the value of life and conscience of humanity.
Military actions should not go beyond self-defense or impose collective punishment on civilians. Protecting civilians in armed conflicts is a red line defined by international humanitarian law, and the indiscriminate use of force is unacceptable.
The parties to the conflict should adhere to international law and international humanitarian law, including ensuring the safety of civilians and detainees, opening humanitarian corridors, and preventing an even worse humanitarian disaster.
The history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has repeatedly demonstrated that the conflict cannot be resolved with military means, and responding to violence with violence will only lead to a vicious cycle.
The parties to the conflict should exercise restraint, immediately cease fire, and seek dialogue. All relevant parties in the region should maintain calm and restraint, uphold objectivity and fairness, promote de-escalation of the conflict, and avoid greater impacts on regional and international security.
The international community should take action to oppose any actions that harm civilians, and actively encourage peace talks. United Nations, especially the UN Security Council, must shoulder its responsibility, focus on humanitarian concerns, clearly call for practical measures to a ceasefire, an end to violence, protection of civilians, and the formation of a binding international consensus.
As long as the fighting continues, it will be impossible to avoid further violations of international humanitarian law. Without a full ceasefire, any humanitarian aid will only be a drop in the bucket.
If the current fighting in Gaza is allowed to drag on, the end result will not be a complete military victory for any side, but a wider humanitarian disaster and a more serious crisis.
Currently, the international community is expecting the UN Security Council to play a role in de-escalating the conflict and preventing humanitarian crises. However, a few major countries, while verbally emphasizing the need for the Security Council to take appropriate actions, have triggered doubts about their true intentions through their voting positions on relevant draft resolutions.
In recent years, the international landscape and the situation in the Middle East have undergone numerous changes, with certain major countries pulling the strings in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This has led to the gradual marginalization of the Palestinian issue, and relevant UN resolutions have not been effectively implemented.
The current Palestinian-Israeli conflict serves as a painful reminder to the international community that the Palestinian issue has always been at the core of the Middle East issue. Without a just and equitable resolution to the Palestinian issue, lasting peace in the Middle East is unlikely to be achieved.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a long-standing and complex issue, intertwined with disputes over territory, ethnicity, and religion. The difficulty in resolving the conflict lies fundamentally in the prolonged denial of the Palestinian people’s right to statehood, right to existence, and right to return.
Israel has the right to statehood, and so does Palestine. the fundamental approach to addressing the Palestinian question is the implementation of the two-state solution, and promoting the establishment of the timetable and roadmap for restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation.
The two-state solution, recognized by the international community, is that the Palestinians have their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the borders from 1967.
The international community generally supports the resumption of negotiations between the two sides based on the principles of “land for peace,” relevant UN resolutions, and the two-state solution.
Despite the differences between the two sides in terms of implementation, the two-state solution remains the only consensus-based approach to resolving the issue.
After the outbreak of the current conflict, the international community has once again come to the profound realization that the true implementation of the two-state solution is essential for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and bringing genuine peace to the Middle East.
Some said that any solution that deviates from the two-state solution is not feasible, and some believed that there is no alternative to the solution for resolving the issue. Some voices thought that a just and lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue could not be achieved without implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions and establishing an independent State of Palestine.
On the issue of Palestine, China always stands on the side of peace, justice, international law, the common aspirations of most countries, and human conscience.
Currently, China is in communication with the relevant parties to prevent the escalation of conflict and humanitarian disasters, and will continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip through the UN and bilateral channels.
China will support all efforts conducive to the implementation of the two-state solution and seeks a comprehensive, just, and lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue, in order to achieve peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel.
To act responsibly for peace and lives is a shared duty among all peace-loving and fair-minded nations. In the face of ongoing conflicts and escalating humanitarian disasters, major countries, in particular, need to uphold objectivity and fairness, promote a prompt ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, and explicitly call for the implementation of the two-state solution, so as to eliminate the fertile ground for violence and play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East.
