A tentative ceasefire took effect early Friday, bringing an end to the deadliest violence between Israel and Palestine since 2014. The fierce exchanges of rocket fire and airstrikes in 11 days killed over 230 people, including more than 100 women and children, and aroused widespread concerns from the international community.
The Gaza conflict has demonstrated that only by finding a comprehensive, fair and long-term solution to the question can the two sides live in peace and the Arab and Jewish people pursue common development. It also suits the common interests of the international society.
The question of Palestine is at the core of the turmoil in the Middle East. Only when the Palestinian question is resolved comprehensively, fairly and permanently, can the region truly achieve lasting peace and universal security.
Over 70 years of partitioning of Palestine has shown that conflicts and violence would inevitably benefit no one. To implement the "two-state solution" is a fundamental approach to achieving justice and long-lasting peace between Palestine and Israel.
If Palestine and Israel can restart peace negotiations based on the "two-state solution", establish at an early date a fully sovereign and independent State of Palestine, based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, it will then be possible for the two sides to truly coexist in peace, for the Arab and Jewish people to achieve harmony, and for the Middle East to embrace long-term stability.
Peace between Palestine and Israel couldn't be guaranteed without the support of the international community. It requires the efforts from all countries to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian issue without delay.
To settle the question of Palestine, the international community is required to promote negotiations and fulfill relevant international treaties, and stand up for fairness and justice. Most members of the UN Security made their voices on justice heard in response to the Palestine-Israel situation.
The US, however, has repeatedly blocked the Security Council's statements that condemn Israel's military response, and stood on the opposite side of international society.
As a staunch supporter of the peace between Palestine and Israel, China has always upheld international justice and morality, and supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore the legitimate rights of their nation as well as efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue.
In 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a four-point proposal to promote a settlement of the question of Palestine, which is of practical significance in the current situation particularly.
China, as the president of the Security Council for May, had pushed the UN body to hold two emergency consultations on the Palestine-Israel conflict, and drafted a press statement, in a bid to guide the Security Council to take action.
The turbulence in Palestine-Israel relations sounds the alarm for international rule of law, tests multilateral cooperation, and weighs on human conscience. Resorting to violence to resolve the Palestinian issue is never rational. A wise move to achieving lasting peace is to adhere to fairness and justice, end violence and fire, and restart peace talks from the perspective of regional peace and general trend of world development.
