China’s special envoy for the Mideast pinned the cause of the Israel-Gaza crisis on the lack of guarantee for the rights of Palestinians, as he met with his Russian counterpart in Qatar, according to Reuters.

In the first leg of his tour in the region, China’s envoy for Middle East issues Zhai Jun landed in Qatar where he reaffirmed with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov Beijing’s alignment with Moscow in their efforts to help de-escalate the situation in Gaza.

China and Russia share the same position on the Palestinian issue, Zhai was quoted saying after meeting with Bogdanov in Doha, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with his “dear friend” President Xi Jinping in a rare meeting in Beijing.

“The fundamental reason for the current situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people have not been guaranteed,” Zhai said.