China envoy urges action on West Bank, Gaza peace

China on Monday called for urgent action to prevent further deterioration in the occupied Palestinian territory, as a senior UN official warned the Security Council of continued settlement expansion and unprecedented levels of settler violence in the West Bank.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said the Palestinian question was among the major issues discussed during the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, which concluded on Monday, with countries broadly calling for a ceasefire, dialogue and the implementation of the two-state solution.

"The international community must build greater consensus and translate these strong calls into concrete action," Fu told the Security Council, warning against allowing the prospects for the two-state solution to further diminish.

Briefing the council, Ramiz Alakbarov, acting UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said Israeli settlement activity continued at high levels despite Security Council Resolution 2334.

During the latest reporting period, Israeli authorities advanced or approved nearly 4,570 housing units in Area C of the West Bank and 3,515 in East Jerusalem, while tenders were published for nearly 2,240 additional units, he said.

More than 33,000 Palestinians remain displaced from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, which Alakbarov called the West Bank's "longest and largest displacement" since 1967.

Fu called for all-out efforts to prevent the situation in the West Bank from collapsing.

Turning to Gaza, Fu called for urgent efforts to improve the humanitarian situation, saying the enclave remained under comprehensive restrictions, with shortages of essential supplies, damaged infrastructure and severe sanitation problems.

Alakbarov told the council that 360 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,600 injured in Gaza during the reporting period amid Israeli military operations and daily airstrikes.

"If the fighting in Gaza cannot be brought to an end and humanitarian access cannot be ensured, peace will remain out of reach and reconstruction in Gaza cannot begin," Fu said.

"We call on the parties concerned, Israel in particular, to sincerely and fully fulfill their obligations under the ceasefire agreement, immediately cease all military operations in Gaza and take positive steps toward lasting peace," he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed on Monday that he visited the United Arab Emirates a day earlier at the invitation of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, saying their talks focused on relations between the two countries.

"The visit focused on bilateral ties and regional challenges," a statement from Netanyahu's office said, adding that his wife, Sara, joined him during the visit.

The UAE's state-run Emirates News Agency said earlier on Monday that the two leaders discussed relations between the countries and ways to strengthen them, without providing further details.

Citing officials familiar with the meeting, Israeli state-owned Kan TV News reported that Netanyahu had asked the UAE president to publicly deny reports that he had warned the Israeli prime minister before Hamas' Oct 7, 2023 surprise attack that the group was planning a major operation.

Netanyahu has previously denied receiving such a warning.

In a separate statement, his office denied the report as "fake news", claiming the visit "focused exclusively on strengthening relations between the two countries and on regional challenges".

Xinhua contributed to this story.