BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping told Egypt’s prime minister on Thursday (Oct 19) that their countries should work together to bring “more stability” to the Middle East, as the Israel-Hamas conflict casts a shadow over the region.
The conflict has raged since Palestinian militant group Hamas launched shock raids into Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,400 people – most of them civilians – and taking around 200 hostages.
In response, Israel has laid siege to Gaza, carrying out waves of air strikes in the Palestinian enclave, enforcing a blockade and massing troops on its border ahead of an expected ground assault.
Top UN humanitarian official Martin Griffiths on Wednesday said the situation in Gaza was dire, with hospitals overwhelmed, more than 3,000 Gazans killed and 12,500 injured.
China has repeatedly backed a vague two-state proposal on the decades-long deadlock that preceded the war, but it has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause – albeit in favour of the nationalist Palestine Liberation Organisation rather than Islamist Hamas.
Xi met Egypt’s Mostafa Madbouli in Beijing on Thursday, repeating China’s support for a “two-state solution … to realise the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel”, according to multiple state media outlets.
“China is willing to enhance cooperation with Egypt … and inject more certainty and stability into the region and the world,” Xi told Mostafa Madbouli at a meeting in Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“China and Egypt are good friends who share the same goals and trust each other, and good partners who work hand-in-hand for development and common prosperity”, CCTV reported Xi as saying.
“At present, the international and regional situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, and the world is experiencing rapid changes not seen for a century,” Xi added.
Beijing was also willing to work with Cairo to “jointly safeguard international fairness and justice as well as the common interests of developing countries”, he said.
Source: CNA
