China Seeks To Strengthen Coordination With Egypt, Arab Countries On Israel-Gaza War

During talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Thursday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that the most urgent task is a ceasefire and stopping the war as soon as possible.

Chinese President Xi Jinping. ( Image Source :Getty )

China is supporting Egypt’s efforts to open humanitarian corridors, and is willing to enhance coordination with Egypt and Arab countries to promote an early, comprehensive and lasting solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Chinese state media said on Thursday. China has appreciated Egypt's role in cooling the conflict situation, which arose after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. During talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Thursday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that the most urgent task is a ceasefire and stopping the war as soon as possible.

Xi also said that China is willing to work with Egypt to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, agricultural technology, and renewable energy while expanding high-quality imports from Egypt, Reuters reported. Relations between China and Egypt have strengthened in recent months, with Cairo set to become an official member of the BRICS group of emerging economies from next year.

This comes after the United States said that it has reached a deal with Egypt on reopening the border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid to reach Palestine. The announcement came after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel where he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli government pledged not to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the bombarded enclave via Egypt, as per Al Jazeera. The deal — wherein 20 aid trucks will be allowed into Gaza — was reached after Biden had a call with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi following the trip, said the White House.

The Egyptian President had previously denied that the Rafah Border — the only crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip — was closed by them and instead said, “repeated bombings by Israel of the Palestinian side of the crossing have prevented operations”.

Over 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip so far, the Hamas-run health ministry said. More than 12,500 others have been wounded since the war began, following a shock Hamas assault on Israel that killed around 1,300 people, the vast majority of whom were civilians.