Chinese President Xi Jinping urged an "immediate" cease-fire in Gaza, amid Israel's attacks on civilians in the blockaded enclave, while supporting efforts to hold an international peace conference in Palestine.
"The parties to the conflict must end hostilities and achieve a cease-fire immediately, stop all violence and attacks against civilians, release civilians held captive, and act to prevent loss of more lives and spare people from more miseries," Xi told a special session of the BRICS countries –Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – to discuss the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Addressing the BRICS country leaders, Xi said: "Given the current circumstances, it is very timely and important that BRICS countries meet and speak up for justice and peace on the Palestinian-Israeli issue."
Xi said China backs convening of an international peace conference "that is more authoritative to build international consensus for peace and work toward an early solution to the question of Palestine that is comprehensive, just and sustainable."
"The right of the Palestinian people to statehood, their right to existence, and their right of return have long been ignored. This is the root cause of the Palestinian-Israeli situation," he told the virtual BRICS summit, hosted by South Africa.
"The only viable way to break the cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in the two-state solution. There can be no sustainable peace and security in the Middle East without a just solution to the question of Palestine," said the Chinese leader.
He said humanitarian corridors to Gaza "must be kept secure and unimpeded, and more humanitarian assistance should be provided to the population in Gaza."
"The collective punishment of people in Gaza in the form of forced transfer or water, electricity and fuel deprivation must stop," said Xi.
Pretoria is hosting a virtual meeting of BRICS aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Fighting has raged in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people, during cross-border raids on Oct. 7 – the deadliest attack in Israel's history.
In retaliation, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
According to Hamas, the war has killed more than 13,300 people, thousands of them children.
China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinians and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Beijing has been calling for an immediate cease-fire since the start of the war last month.
