China Urges Israel, Palestine to Resume Negotiations

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 13, 2001

China Urges Israel, Palestine to Resume Negotiations

China urges Israel and Palestine to calmly and properly deal with the current crisis, stop repeated retaliations and resume negotiations, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Thursday at a routine press conference.

A terrorist attack which occurred near a Jewish settlement on December 12 in the West Bank resulted in a number of casualties. After that, Israeli forces carried out a retaliatory attack on thePalestinian-controlled West Bank.

China condemned the terrorist attack on December 12, Zhang said. Frequent attacks of the kind obviously show that tit-for-tat policies currently held by the two sides would only worsen the situation, she said.

"We urge the two sides to calmly deal with the crisis at present, immediately stop retaliation and counter-retaliation, andresolve the disputes through negotiations," Zhang said. The international community should also help curb the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, Zhang said.

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