China’s foreign minister has said Beijing was a “good friend and brother of Arab and Muslim countries,” adding it has “always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights and interests”.

Wang added China will work to “quell the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, alleviate the humanitarian crisis and promote an early, comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue”.

China’s special envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, has engaged officials from Israel and the Palestinian Authority — which governs in the occupied West Bank — as well as the Arab League and EU in the last year to discuss a two-state solution and recognition for Palestine at the United Nations.