China said steps toward peace in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza were “small” but were “still worthy of positive encouragement”, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Since Israel and Hamas reached a truce agreement, both sides have released three batches of detained individuals,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry.

“Even if the steps toward peace are small, they are still worthy of positive encouragement,” Wang told reporters in Beijing, according to the daily Global Times.

“The difficulties in protecting civilians should be overcome no matter how big they are,” Wang said.