China’s UN envoy slams Israeli regime’s settler-colonialism, unabated crimes in Palestine

China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, has reaffirmed his country's support to the Palestinian people against the apartheid Israeli regime, blasting the Tel Aviv regime for its settler colonialism in the occupied territories. 

Speaking at the UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, the Chinese envoy said his country "opposes the excessive use of force by (Israeli) forces", calling for holding those responsible for the violations accountable.

He also noted that 2022 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005.

"The occupying power should effectively fulfill its obligations under international law to ensure the security of people in the occupied territories," Zhang said.

The envoy also stressed that Beijing supports the resumption of so-called "peace talks" between the Palestinians and the Israeli regime.

"We call on all parties to show their conscience to uphold justice and fulfill their commitments with actions," Zhang said, calling on the UN to take "substantive steps" to support the Palestinian people "in restoring and exercising their inalienable rights."

Zhang noted that the Israeli regime's settlement expansion "encroaches on Palestinian land and resources, squeezes the living space of the Palestinian people, and violates the Palestinian right to self-determination, making a contiguous, independent, and sovereign Palestinian state even more elusive", urging the regime to stop all its settlement construction activities.

Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed his country’s support for Palestine’s efforts to gain full membership in the United Nations.

“We firmly support the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Xi said during his visit to Saudi Arabia. 

He said it was "not possible to continue the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinians".

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East al-Quds as its capital. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion.

Gaza, home to some two million Palestinians, has been under Israeli all-out siege since June 2007. The tight blockade has caused a decline in the standards of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

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