Wu Haitao (front C), the charge d'affaires of the Chinese mission to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council open debate on the situation in the Middle East at the UN headquarters in New York, Oct. 18, 2017. China on Wednesday asked for more efforts to tackle the Palestine issue, saying the international community should have a sense of urgency to push for a political settlement. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

China on Wednesday asked for more efforts to tackle the Palestine issue, saying the international community should have a sense of urgency to push for a political settlement.

The Palestine issue is the crux of the Middle East crisis and a root cause of many problems in the region, Wu Haitao, the charge d'affaires of the Chinese mission to the United Nations, told an open debate of the Security Council.

Palestine and Israel are neighbors that share a fate. Accelerating the political settlement of the Palestine issue through dialogue and consultation is in the fundamental interests of both Palestinians and Israelis and conducive to durable peace and stability in the region, he said.

He warned that the Palestine-Israel situation is fragile, the conflicts centering on settlements are acute and the humanitarian situation in Gaza is grave. At the same time, the Palestinian people's demand and aspirations for correcting the historical wrongs and resuming the exercise of their unalienable national rights are strong.

He asked for efforts to push for political settlement on the basis of the two-states solution, which he said best fits the realities in the region, has won broadest international recognition, and is demanded by UN General Assembly resolutions.

Parties concerned should push for the resumption of peace talks on the basis of relevant Security Council resolutions, the "land-for-peace" principle and the Arab Peace Initiative in a bid for a comprehensive, fair and durable solution, he said.

Wu asked to remove negative factors that would impede such an endeavor and called for sincerity for peace and the building of mutual trust. It is imperative to stop all settlement activities in occupied territories, to cease the closure of Gaza, to enhance measures that would improve the livelihood of the Palestinian people and to prevent violence against civilians, he said.

He asked the international community to coordinate efforts and boost synergy for peace. Recently, the international community has increased attention to the Palestine issue and made various efforts to push for the resumption of peace talks. China supports all efforts toward peace between Palestine and Israel, he said.

The recent progress in intra-Palestine reconciliation is conducive to unity within Palestine, to the resumption of peace talks with Israel and to the attainment of Palestinian statehood and peaceful co-existence with Israel, said Wu. China commends Egypt's diplomatic efforts to broker the deal between Fatah and Hamas, he said, adding that the international community should build on the progress and promote peace.

China is a staunch supporter of Palestinians' legitimate course and an active mediator for peace between Palestine and Israel, he said. China firmly supports the two-states solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty and independence on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, he said.

China will follow as general guide President Xi Jinping's four-point proposal on the settlement of the Palestine issue and will work with various parties toward a political settlement, he added.

On the Iran nuclear issue, Wu said the 2015 agreement between Iran and six world powers helped defuse a crisis and consolidate the international non-proliferation regime. The agreement was an important achievement in terms of international security governance and multilateralism and also a good example for addressing hot spot issues through political and diplomatic means, he stressed.

China hopes the parties concerned will cherish and safeguard the agreement as a historic achievement, honor their respective obligations and ensure the comprehensive implementation of the agreement and properly settle their differences through dialogue and consultation in a concerted effort to peace and stability in the Middle East, said the Chinese envoy.