Proactive steps urged to secure Gaza ceasefire

President Xi Jinping has urged the international community to build broader consensus and take more proactive steps to secure a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, as he sent congratulations to a United Nations meeting held on Tuesday to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

It was the 13th consecutive year that Xi has sent such congratulatory messages to the event as Chinese president, a move observers said shows the consistency of China's Middle East policy and its support for the just cause of the Palestinian people.

In this year's message, Xi said the Palestinian question lies at the core of the Middle East conflict, bearing directly on international fairness and justice as well as regional stability.

He stressed that post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza must follow the principle of "Palestinians governing Palestine", fully respecting the will of the Palestinian people and taking into account the legitimate concerns of countries in the region.

Xi also underscored the urgent need to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Most important, he said, all efforts must remain anchored in the pursuit of a two-state solution in order to achieve an early political settlement of the Palestinian question.

Xi noted that the Palestinian question serves as a test of the effectiveness of the global governance system. China, he said, calls on the international community to address the root causes of the Palestinian question, shoulder responsibility, take strong actions, correct historical injustices, and uphold fairness and justice.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China firmly supports the Palestinian people's just cause in restoring their legitimate national rights, Xi said.

He added that China will continue working with the international community to strive for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date.

Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that China has been following the Palestinian question closely and has, on multiple occasions, elaborated on its position and put forward proposals.

Without addressing the Palestinian question, he said, it would be difficult for other countries in the region to remain unaffected.

Sun noted that there are two different approaches to governance regarding the Palestinian question. "One approach views the core of the problem as terrorism and counterterrorism. China and other Global South countries, however, believe that the core of the question lies in the fact that Palestine has yet to achieve statehood," he said.

This year, many Western countries recognized the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, creating an important opportunity to advance the two-state solution, Sun said.

"Resolving the Palestinian question through the two-state solution, as China has advocated, will help Palestine and Israel identify the greatest common denominator for cooperation, achieve permanent peace, and ensure sustainable stability," he said.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the UN on or around Nov 29 each year. The date carries special significance for Palestinians. On Nov 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the partition resolution providing for the establishment in Palestine of a "Jewish State" and an "Arab State", with Jerusalem under a special international regime.

In a message delivered to the meeting on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reaffirmed that the United Nations will never waver in its commitment to the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.

Noting the importance of achieving statehood for the Palestinian people, he called for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories and stressed the need for irreversible progress toward a two-state solution.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn