Chinese envoy calls for common security between Israelis, Palestinians

Zhang Jun (C), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Aug. 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E)

"The international community should pay equal attention to the security concerns of Palestine and Israel, and encourage both sides to find the greatest common ground through dialogue and cooperation to achieve common security," a Chinese envoy said.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for efforts to achieve common security between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel and Palestine are inseparable neighbors, whose security is interdependent and indivisible. If one party's security is based on the other's insecurity, the cycle of violence will not be broken, and the security dilemma cannot be overcome, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"The international community should pay equal attention to the security concerns of Palestine and Israel, and encourage both sides to find the greatest common ground through dialogue and cooperation to achieve common security," he told the Security Council.

At the same time, the occupying power should effectively fulfill its obligations under international law to ensure the security of the people in the occupied territory, he said.

China is deeply concerned about the continuous deterioration of the security situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. According to UN statistics, 2022 is the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005. China condemns all indiscriminate attacks on civilians, deplores the grave violations against children, opposes the excessive use of force by security forces, and calls for investigations into the violence and for accountability, said Zhang.

Improving the humanitarian and economic situation of Palestine is urgently needed, he said.

Under Israel's 15-year blockade, Gaza suffers from poor infrastructure, electricity and energy shortages and the lack of medical resources, leaving more than 2 million people in a dire situation. In the West Bank, large areas of land have been designated by Israel as military training areas or for other purposes, effectively closing it off to Palestinian construction, economic activity and development, he said.

"We call on Israel to ease restrictions on the movement of people and humanitarian, reconstruction materials into and out of the Gaza Strip, to lift the blockade on Gaza as soon as possible, and to effectively create conditions for the development of Palestinian communities in the West Bank," said Zhang.

A Palestinian boy stands on the rubbles of his house which was damaged by Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on Aug. 9, 2022. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

The international community should provide assistance to Palestine through multiple channels to help Palestine ease their financial crisis, ensure public services, develop the economy and improve people's lives, he said.

The continued expansion of settlement activities that encroach on the Palestinian land, swallow up Palestinian resources and violate Palestine's right to self-determination have made a contiguous, independent and sovereign state of Palestine even more elusive. China urges Israel to cease all settlement activities and return to the right track of the two-state solution, he said.

The international community should always place the question of Palestine high on the international agenda, continue to adhere to the two-state solution, and provide more assistance to promote the resumption of dialogue between Palestine and Israel on an equal footing. The Security Council must, with a sense of urgency, take substantive steps to advance the two-state solution and support the Palestinian people in restoring and exercising their inalienable rights. On issues concerning the future and fate of the Palestinian people, no one has the right to veto, he said.

Zhang reiterated China's support for the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent state of Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, for the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel and the joint development of the Arab and Jewish peoples. China stands ready to work with the international community to practice true multilateralism, promote a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question, and achieve security, stability, development and prosperity in the Middle East at an early date, he said.