China renews its pledge to ease tensions in Middle East

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Wednesday renewed China's pledge to maintain communication with all the relevant parties and make all-out efforts to ease tensions and restore peace in the Middle East, which has been roiled by the Palestine-Israel conflict for a month now.

"For most people, one month could be only a short period of time. But for the Palestinian people, the past month has been extremely long as more than 10,000 Palestinian people, most of whom are women and children, have lost their lives," Wang said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

China has been committed to de-escalation efforts and striving for a cease-fire since the conflict broke out, said Wang, noting that Foreign Minister Wang Yi has conducted in-depth exchanges with 18 of his counterparts, heads of international organizations and relevant political officials on the political settlement of the conflict.

Zhai Jun, China's special envoy on the Middle East Issue, has visited five countries in the Middle East and attended the Cairo Summit for Peace where he reiterated China's stance.

Zhai will also attend an international humanitarian conference for the civilian population in Gaza, to be held in Paris on Thursday, the spokesman said.

"Neither Israeli nor Palestinian civilians should be made the target of armed attacks or collective punishment because violence cannot bring true security and armed forces cannot achieve lasting peace," the spokesman said.

He said it is the responsibility of parties involved to release detained civilians, protect civilians and facilities for civilian use, open humanitarian corridors and resume dialogue.