Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for a peace conference on the war between Israel and Hamas, addressing Arab leaders at a forum aimed at strengthening regional ties.
Xi hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and several other Arab leaders this week.
China, an oil producer, has been importing crude from the Middle East as it has sought to expand its influence in recent years.
It has positioned itself as a more neutral actor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than its enemy the United States, supports a two-state solution, and maintains good relations with Israel.
China has identified the Middle East as a key hub of its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand the country’s influence overseas.
“The Middle East is a country with great prospects, but the war is still going on,” Xi said.
“War should not last forever. Justice will not last forever.”
After Xi, the Egyptian side assured the international community that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would not be displaced from the war-torn region.
Egypt shares a border with Gaza and signed a historic peace treaty with Israel in 1978.
Sisi’s comments came after Israel’s military said on Wednesday it had taken “operational control” of the strategic Philadelphia Corridor on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
The corridor served as a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt and was controlled by Israeli forces until 2005, when it was withdrawn from the Gaza Strip as part of a wider separation.
