Negotiations over Gaza conflict "must not go on indefinitely": Chinese envoy

UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Friday that negotiations over the Gaza conflict "must not go on indefinitely."

The conflict in Gaza has been going on for over nine months, causing an unprecedented, ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe, with nearly 40,000 innocent civilian lives lost, Fu said in remarks at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

"The red lines of international law and international humanitarian law have been crossed repeatedly," he said.

It has been almost two months since Security Council Resolution 2735 was adopted, but Israel has continued its large-scale military operations in Gaza over the past two months, Fu noted, emphasizing that "Civilian lives must not be used as a bargaining chip for negotiations, and military offensives cannot create the conditions for the release of hostages."

"Negotiations must not go on indefinitely," he pointed out, as "There is not a moment to lose when lives are at stake, and alleviating the humanitarian catastrophe allows no delay."

The ambassador urged Israel to immediately cease all military operations in Gaza, and urged the United States to put greater pressure on Israel to help bring out an immediate ceasefire.

"China supports the Council in taking further actions that are necessary to push for the implementation of the relevant resolutions," he stressed.

Noting that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the mainstay of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, Fu said China is firmly opposed to attempts to attack and discredit UNRWA and to throw a spanner in the works of UNRWA's mandate implementation.

The ambassador called for ensuring the safety and security of humanitarian workers in Gaza, and urged Israel to genuinely fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law by opening all land crossings and provide security and necessary assistance to humanitarian agencies.

Fu stressed that settlement activities in the West Bank violate international law and relevant Security Council resolutions and chip away at the foundation of the two-State solution, calling for a stop to all settlement activities and settler violence.

On the negative spillover effects of the Gaza conflict, the ambassador warned that "allowing the flames of war and instability to spread even further would only lead to a catastrophe that engulfs the entire region."

Noting the reconciliation dialogue between intra-Palestinian groups held in Beijing earlier this week, Fu said "China has always been a staunch supporter of the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people as a nation."

"China firmly supports the independent Palestinian statehood, and calls for a broader based, more authoritative, and more effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and a roadmap for the implementation of the two-State solution, with a view to putting the Palestinian question back on the right track towards a political settlement," he said.