Beijing, China– China’s Middle East envoy will arrive Monday in the United Arab Emirates, Beijing’s foreign ministry said, continuing a visit to the region aimed at “cooling down” the Israel-Hamas war.
Zhai Jun began his tour of the Middle East last week, first visiting Qatar and meeting with the Gulf Nation’s foreign minister as well as his Russian counterpart on Thursday.
He will land in the UAE on Monday and will take part in a symposium on China-UAE relations, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. She did not elaborate on his itinerary in the country.
Zhai then “plans to continue to visit the Middle East to strengthen coordination with relevant parties on promoting a ceasefire, stopping the violence, and cooling down the situation,” Mao said.
On Saturday, Zhai took part in the Cairo Summit for Peace, Beijing’s foreign ministry said.
Beijing is “deeply concerned about the sharp escalation of the conflict, which has resulted in massive civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis”, the foreign ministry quoted him as saying.
“The continuous escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict once again proves that the Palestinian issue should not be ignored and forgotten,” Zhai said.
He pledged to work with “relevant parties of the international community to make unremitting efforts to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible”.
Washington has said it hopes China’s friendship with Hamas-backer Iran could help calm the conflict, particularly after Beijing brokered a detente between long-time foes Tehran and Riyadh this year.
China has refrained from explicitly condemning Hamas for the attacks that sparked the war.
Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack.
More than 4,651 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in relentless Israeli bombardments in retaliation for the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist militant group, according to the latest toll from the Hamas health ministry in Gaza.