China supports Palestinians, gives $1M aid
/China has expressed support to the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel and their bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations, and is giving them $1 million in aid, a Palestinian envoy said Friday.
Beijing supports "stopping any kind of aggression from the Israelis against the Palestinian people," Bassam al-Salhi told reporters following talks in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. Chinese officials did not immediately comment.
The talks followed Gaza's first day of calm after the fiercest fighting in years between Israel and Hamas militants. A cease-fire Wednesday ended eight days of airstrikes and artillery attacks by Israel and rocket attacks by Palestinian militants that killed 161 Palestinians and five Israelis.
China has increasingly played a more active diplomatic role in the Middle East. It recently announced its own four-point plan for a political solution to the Syrian conflict, although observers said it was vague and did not significantly add to past peace plans that have failed.
The Egyptian-sponsored cease-fire that took effect Wednesday night in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict aims to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel and ease border closings that have stifled Gaza's economy. But vague language in the agreement and deep hostility between the combatants make it far from certain that the bloodshed will end.
