China's top envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday said that Israel's rejection of the two-state solution and denial of a Palestinian "right to statehood" are "unacceptable".

The two-state solution is the "only feasible way" to achieve peace between Palestine and Israel and it is also a "strict requirement" for implementing Security Council resolutions, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN.

"We are deeply concerned about the Israeli leader's remarks last week, rejecting the two-state solution and denying Palestine's right to statehood. These remarks are unacceptable," he told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question on Tuesday.

Any discussion of postwar arrangements in Gaza that deviates from the two-state solution is "tantamount to building a house on quicksand", he said.

China calls for intensifying diplomatic efforts, convening an international peace conference as soon as possible, initiating a meaningful multilateral process and reviving the political prospects of the two-state solution, said Zhang.

"The establishment of an independent state of Palestine must be an irreversible process, and we support, as a first step in that process, Palestine's full membership in the United Nations as soon as possible," the ambassador said.

"There has long been an overwhelming consensus in the international community on the immediate realization of a cease-fire, and it is regrettable that the adoption of the relevant Security Council resolutions has been made difficult by the repeated vetoes of individual countries," said Zhang.

The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had long since shown the fundamental way out for peace; what was lacking was political will and determination, he said.

Zhang called on Israel to "immediately change course and cease its indiscriminate military attacks and destruction of Gaza".

"All parties in the international community should focus their diplomatic efforts on promoting an immediate cease-fire," he said.

While promoting the cease-fire in Gaza, every effort must be made to prevent the spillover impact of the situation in Gaza on the Red Sea and the wider region, he said.

Zhang also called for the removal of all obstacles to expanding humanitarian assistance. "Not only did people in Gaza die from war bombings, but hunger and the accelerated spread of infectious diseases also claimed more lives, especially the lives of children," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he "will not compromise on full Israeli control" over Gaza and that "this is contrary to a Palestinian state".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday also said Israel's rejection of a two-state solution is "unacceptable".

"Last week's clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable," he said at the Security Council meeting.

"This refusal, and the denial of the right to statehood to the Palestinian people, would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security. It would exacerbate polarization and embolden extremists everywhere," Guterres said.

He said that the right of the Palestinian people to build their own fully independent state must be recognized by all. And any refusal to accept the two-state solution by any party must be firmly rejected, he said.

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 25,490 since Oct 7, 2023, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday.

The Israeli army killed 195 Palestinians and wounded 354 others over the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a press statement.

"A number of victims are still under the rubble, and ambulances and the civil defense crew cannot reach them," the ministry added.

On Monday, the Israeli army intensified its assault on the southern Khan Younis city, storming medical centers and killing dozens of Palestinians, making it the fiercest fighting in the area so far.

The Israeli army, meanwhile, suffered its deadliest single attack on Monday, in which 21 soldiers were killed in central Gaza.

The soldiers were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings when militants launched a rocket-propelled grenade at a nearby tank, triggering a premature explosion that resulted in the collapse of the buildings while the soldiers were either inside or nearby.

According to official Israeli figures, a total of 219 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the country waged a war against Hamas, following the Hamas-led assault on southern Israeli communities on Oct 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken as hostages to Gaza.

GAZA -- At least 50 Palestinians have been killed and dozens of others wounded by Israeli bombings on shelter centers of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said on Monday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a press statement that it had received "reports of deaths and injuries among the displaced as a result of the occupation's bombings of shelter centers."

"Israeli tanks approached Al-Amal Hospital, and we completely lost contact with our crews in Khan Younis as a result of the ground incursion," it added.

The organization said that ambulances were unable to reach the injured in Khan Younis, because of Israeli forces' siege of its ambulance center and "targeting anyone who tries to move around."

In addition, the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza said in a press statement that Israel had targeted five shelter centers in the city of Khan Younis.

The statement noted that "the Israeli army targeted the displacement centers with direct bombardments, Quadcopter aircraft, drone aircraft, and artillery, which led to dozens of deaths and wounded."

Ashraf Al-Qedra, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said in a press statement that "the Israeli occupation is committing horrific crimes west of Khan Younis."

He added that "dozens of deaths and wounded are still in the targeted places and roads," and the Israeli forces prevented ambulances from transferring the wounded people and retrieving the bodies of the victims in the west of Khan Younis.

GAZA - At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli continuous bombing on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on Monday, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The western areas of the city were violently bombarded by Israeli warplanes and artillery while Palestinian militants and the Israeli army engaged in fierce fighting, eyewitnesses said, adding thousands of displaced Palestinians live in those areas.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 25,295, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 190 Palestinians and wounded 340 others during the past 24 hours.

It added that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has wounded at least 63,000 Palestinians since its outbreak on Oct 7, 2023, noting that a large number of victims were still under the rubble as ambulance and civil defense crews could not reach them.

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has exceeded 25,000, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The Israeli army killed 178 Palestinians and wounded 293 others in the Palestinian enclave over the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a press statement.

This has brought the total Palestinian deaths to 25,105 and injuries to 62,681 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, it said.

Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia's potential recognition of Israel through peace for the Palestinians and a Palestinian state, as it reiterated at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland together with other speakers from the region, showcases the Arabs' will to achieve a two-state solution to end this contentious issue, say analysts.

They also said the Arab countries' consistent position on engaging with the Palestinians has become paramount, given the broader regional and global ramifications at stake.

Tensions in the Middle East region remained high on the agenda at the annual economic forum, which was attended by world leaders and senior government officials.

At a plenary session titled "Securing an Insecure World" at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan 16, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, and to pave the way for a credible process that empowers the Palestinian Authority, and allow for a path towards peace in the region, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Faisal also said that "we agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel", but he said that can only happen "through peace for the Palestinians and the establishment of the Palestinian state" while pointing out that Israel's current actions jeopardize the prospects for regional peace and security, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Further, he stated that a cease-fire should be a starting point for lasting and sustainable peace, "achievable only through the establishment of true justice for the Palestinian people".

"Saudi's position has always been clear, without having an independent Palestinian state, there will be no normalization with Israel," Mehmet Rakipoglu, a Turkiye-based Gulf analyst and coordinator of academic studies at Dimensions for Strategic Studies, told China Daily.

He said resolving this issue would mean Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, to "stop killing innocent people", and "to stop its settlement policies", noting that other Arab countries "have been stating the same".

At a separate forum, also in Davos, Qatar Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said the Palestinian cause was a central issue for the Middle East and the world.

He said that the international community's reaction to the war in the Gaza Strip was disappointing for the people of the region and that there was a need to find an immediate solution and ways to" end the war as soon as possible, and to release both hostages and Palestinian prisoners", according to the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Further, Al-Thani also pointed out that the situation in the West Bank was not better than what is happening in the Gaza Strip, as "there may not be comprehensive bombing, but there are killings and violence by settlers", and "the extremist government calling for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people".

Saudi's Prince Faisal also raised the Red Sea issue, emphasizing his country's concern for regional security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.

"We need to focus on the situation in Gaza, not because of what is happening in the Red Sea, but because of its impact on the Palestinians first and on regional security in general," Saudi's Prince Faisal said.

"International undertaking, especially from Arab countries, to establish normal ties with Israel was frequently interpreted by the Israeli government as tacit approval of the status quo that Israel has imposed on the Palestinians, which also rendered Palestinians more susceptible to Israeli colonial actions," Belal Alakhras, a political analyst and Palestinian researcher at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, told China Daily.

He said the resulting impression in Israel was that it "can circumvent the Palestinians, as acknowledgment and normalized dealings become conceivable over time" while a prevailing concern for Israel revolves around the fear of international isolation and rejection, particularly following widespread killing and destruction in Gaza since Oct 7.

"Indeed, the events of Oct 7 underscored the profound and enduring nature of the Palestinian issue, revealing its intricacies beyond the scope of mere peace process and normalization," said Alakhras.

"Instead, it is more obvious now that addressing Palestinian rights and engaging with the Palestinians becomes paramount, given the broader regional and global ramifications at stake. Failure to prioritize these aspects risks entrenching the region in a precarious trajectory, influenced by both political and public sentiment dynamics," he added.

GAZA -- Israel's airstrikes on Gaza city killed at least 25 Palestinians on Wednesday, the state-run Palestine TV reported.

The report said the bodies of 25 people were pulled from the rubble in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza city, which was hit by an Israeli bombing. Dozens more were wounded, it added.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Gaza-based health ministry said 163 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip were killed and 350 others were injured by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours.

This brings the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Strip to 24,448 and the number of injured to 61,504.

DOHA - A batch of medicine and other humanitarian aid for Gaza civilians and Israeli captives will leave Doha on Wednesday for delivery into the Gaza Strip through Egypt, said the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

The aid will arrive at the Egyptian city of Al-Arish on board two Qatari Armed Forces aircraft, the Qatar News Agency reported, citing a statement of the spokesperson of the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majed Al-Ansari.

Under the joint mediation of Qatar and France, medicine and other humanitarian aid will be delivered to civilians in the most affected and vulnerable areas in the Gaza Strip as well as to Israeli captives in Gaza who need medication.

Al-Ansari highlighted that Qatar will continue to collaborate with regional and international partners, particularly on humanitarian issues and medical evacuation, as part of Qatar's endeavors to bring an end to the conflict in Gaza.

JERUSALEM - Israel on Monday said the "intensive" phase of its war on Hamas in southern Gaza would end "soon", while a surge in violence in the West Bank has left several Palestinians dead.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a press briefing that the military has completed "the intensive maneuvering stage in the northern Gaza Strip". He further added that in the southern enclave, the "intensive stage" is expected to conclude "soon".

According to Gallant, Israel's ongoing war against Hamas, which began after Hamas' deadly surprise attack on Oct 7, will be completed when there is "no longer a military threat from Gaza", and when "Hamas is unable to rule and function as a military force" in Gaza.

After the war ends, the Palestinians will govern Gaza, said Gallant. "Palestinians live in Gaza and therefore Palestinians will govern it in the future. The future Gaza government must grow out of the Gaza Strip," he said.

He said Gaza would be ruled by a future government that would be a "civilian alternative that cares about the welfare of residents of Gaza" and is not hostile to Israel. He insisted that Israeli forces would have the "freedom of operation" in the enclave in order to protect Israeli citizens.

Meanwhile in Gaza City, at least a dozen people were killed by tank shells, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Above Khan Younis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip, clouds of black smoke were seen rising, and strikes were reported also in the refugee camp of Nuseirat.

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict has exceeded 24,100, said the health ministry.

The enclave also suffered widespread hunger, with video footage on social media showing hundreds of Gazans rushing toward an aid truck in the Gaza City.

Israel has imposed a total siege on Gaza and "a myriad of obstacles to the safe and orderly distribution of aid" has increased the severe humanitarian crisis, according to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian woman, 24, and a man, 22, in Dura in the Hebron area amid clashes during an Israeli military raid. A third person, a 37-year-old man, was shot dead at a military checkpoint east of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Since Oct 7, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank.

In Ra'anana, a city northeast of Israel's Tel Aviv, a combined car-ramming and stabbing attack carried out by two Palestinians from Hebron killed an elderly woman and wounded 17 others, Israeli authorities said.

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as "a natural response to the occupation's massacres and its continued aggression against our Palestinian people".

China has signed two joint statements on the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, respectively with Egypt and the Arab League, as its fair and balanced stance has received wide recognition.

The core of the two joint statements includes urging an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire, calling for enabling humanitarian access and implementing the two-state solution.

The statements were issued on Sunday during Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Egypt, where he held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the League of Arab States, in separate meetings.

Observers said the release of the two joint statements is China's latest effort through various diplomatic channels to resolve the conflict, which has dragged on for over 100 days and killed more than 23,800 people and displaced 1.9 million civilians.

Liu Zhongmin, a professor of Middle East studies at Shanghai International Studies University, said China and Arab countries share common aspirations and similar positions on promoting the de-escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, protecting civilians and resolving the Palestinian issue in a just manner.

The joint statements, along with China's position paper on the conflict and a United Nations Security Council resolution under China's presidency focusing on humanitarian concerns and the protection of children, have clearly reflected the country's stance on the conflict, he said.

Although the joint statements could not lead directly to a ceasefire due to the complexity of the Palestinian-Israeli issue, they show China's ongoing efforts to seek consensus, he said.

"China has not given up diplomatic efforts to promote peace, although ending violence between the two sides faces challenges," he said.

The statements also expressed concern over the escalation of the situation in the Red Sea and called on relevant parties to cool down the situation to prevent further spillover effects.

Gong Xiaosheng, China's former special envoy on the Middle East issue, said in a recent interview with the Paper that the Middle East is not far away from China, and what happens in the Middle East will affect regional and international security, as well as China's interests.

But he stressed that China's interests in the region are different from those of some countries, such as the United States. China's interests are not to be realized at the expense of others, and it seeks to achieve common interests featuring peace, cooperation and common development, Gong said.

The new round of conflict has also brought the Palestinian issue back to the center of Middle East politics, while the two-state solution was highlighted in the two joint statements during the foreign minister's visit.

The joint statement between China and the Arab League also calls for convening a larger-scale, more authoritative and effective international peace conference, and formulating a specific timetable and road map for the implementation of the solution, in order to resume peace talks between Palestine and Israel.

China has been closely following the Palestinian issue and is a strong supporter of the two-state solution, which has been recognized by Palestine and the Arab countries, said Liu from Shanghai International Studies University.

The current conflict is the result of failing to implement the two-state solution, he said, adding that after the conflict, it requires all parties involved to change their attitudes as well as the ways of dealing with each other, to address the issue and seek peace through negotiation.

CAIRO -- China and the Arab League states on Sunday called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in the conflict-ravaged Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

The two sides also urged the implementation of relevant UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on the situation in Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, said a joint statement, adding that all forms of violence against civilians, as well as violations of international and humanitarian law, must be stopped.

The consensus was reached during a meeting between Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese foreign minister, and the League of Arab States Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The two sides oppose the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians and demand the immediate release of all those held captive, the establishment of a humanitarian coordination mechanism, and humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip via a sustainable, rapid, safe, and barrier-free mechanism.

Any arrangement concerning the future and destiny of Palestine should follow the principle of "Palestinians governing Palestine," said the statement, stressing that the two-state solution has always been the basis for any future arrangement concerning the fate of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).

The two sides express deep concern over the recent escalation of tensions in the Red Sea region, emphasizing the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen while ensuring the security of international commercial routes in the Red Sea.

The Chinese side appreciates the important role played by the Arab side in cooling down the regional situation and avoiding a comprehensive humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The Arab side highly appreciates the efforts made by the Chinese side to defuse the Gaza conflict, realize a ceasefire and support the just cause of the Palestinian people, and appreciates the Position Paper of the People's Republic of China on Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.

JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Combined car-ramming and stabbing attacks carried out by two Palestinians killed an elderly woman and wounded 17 others in central Israel on Monday, Israeli authorities said.

Commander of the Central District of Israeli Police Avi Bitton said that two suspects were in custody after being arrested at the scene in the city of Ra'anana, northeast of Tel Aviv.

In a statement, Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet identified the attackers as Ahmed Zidat, 25, and Mahmoud Zidad, 44, members of the same family from Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank. They entered Israel without permits.

"They acted together and in parallel, approaching two separate locations, took two cars and launched a series of ramming attacks," Bitton said.

He said the two attackers switched cars three times during their rampage, including one that they took over by stabbing the driver, and rammed the vehicles into pedestrians in several locations in Ra'anana.

Video footage on Israel's Kan TV news showed personal belongings strewn across the road and a shattered bus stop, with at least four children reportedly injured in the attack, the report said.

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) issued a statement on Monday claiming responsibility for the twin attacks in Ra'anana, describing it as "a natural response to the occupation's massacres and its continued aggression against our Palestinian people."

Yaron Muskat, the director of the Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, a nearby city, told reporters that a woman in her 70s succumbed to critical wounds in the hospital.

At least 17 people needed medical care, including five who were in serious condition, according to the ZAKA rescue service.

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has exceeded 24,000, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 132 Palestinians and wounded 252 others in the Strip during the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of deaths to 24,100 and injuries to 60,834 in the Palestinian enclave since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, it noted.

At least 33 people have died as a result of the Israeli army's heavy bombing of several locations in Gaza City since early Monday morning, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The Israeli bombing has rendered more than 70 percent of the northern Gaza Strip uninhabitable, the Palestinian Civil Defence said in a statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, at least five Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank on Sunday, which brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the West Bank to at least 352 since a new round of violence erupted on Oct 7, 2023, according to Palestinian media outlets.

GAZA - Yousuf Ali, a Palestinian cancer patient, still struggled to get life-saving treatment as the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict has ravaged the Gaza Strip for 100 days.

Ali, suffering from lung cancer, said his health condition has deteriorated due to poor access to any proper medical treatment since the onset of the conflict on Oct 7, 2023.

"For three years, I used to receive periodic treatment at hospitals in the West Bank and Israel to keep my condition stable, before the war flipped my life upside down," the patient recalled.

The 44-year-old man was forced to leave his house and relocate to Rafah, like many of the more than 1.9 million internally displaced Gaza residents.

Since then (the start of the conflict), "I have neither received any specialty drugs nor any medical examination from a specialist," he told Xinhua, lamenting that his pain has grown twice as intense as before.

"I am dying slowly, and no one is caring about us (the patients)," he said.

The enduring conflict has also endangered 51-year-old Samira Ziara, a heart disease patient, who also has not received any treatment since the war erupted.

"Unfortunately, my mother is witnessing a record and painful situation in light of the deterioration of her health and her lack of medical care and medicines while at the same time diseases and epidemics spread in shelters," Samira's son Kamal Ziara told Xinhua.

He said he could not stand to lose his mother, calling on the international community to help Gazan patients receive treatments either inside Gaza or allow them to travel outside to receive health care.

Under massive Israeli siege and bombardment, the casualties in Gaza were horrific, and the toll is still on the rise.

More than 23,800 Palestinians have been killed, and over 60,000 others were injured, according to figures released by the Gaza-based Health Ministry.

The Israeli escalation came in retaliation for an attack by Hamas, in which its militants killed about 1,200 people and took away more than 200 as hostages.

Besides the shocking deaths and injuries, Gaza is suffering from a worsening humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by power outages, fuel exhaustion, and cut-off communications.

"More than 1.9 million displaced people suffer from catastrophic conditions due to the lack of daily necessities and medical care," Ismail Thawabta, director general of the government media office in Gaza, told Xinhua.

"Out of the 325 shelters in Gaza, only 150 have medical points at a time when most hospitals and primary health centers have been out of service," Thawabta said.

Local medical authorities have detected more than 400,000 cases of diseases and epidemics at a time of challenges posed by harsh winter conditions, he added.

Meanwhile, only nine out of the total 36 hospitals and 19 of the 72 healthcare centers are now operating in Gaza, with their average occupancy rate being 351 percent and the occupancy rate of intensive care units (ICU) at 261 percent, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

According to the media office of the Rafah crossing, 972 patients were transferred outside the enclave to receive medical care, consisting of 571 wounded and 401 patients of various diseases, including cancers.

"It is of great importance to firstly evacuate the more than 5,300 people facing serious and complex health conditions in Gaza to receive necessary and appropriate care abroad," Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of the Gaza-based Health Ministry, told Xinhua.

"We are suffering from a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies here, including anesthesia, antibiotics, intravenous fluids, pain relievers, insulin, blood and its derivatives," al-Qedra said.

Also, medical equipment, such as monitoring devices, respirators, incubators, X-rays, CT scans, analysis devices, and anesthesia, are not operating in hospitals due to power outages, the spokesperson noted.

Meanwhile, overcrowded shelters for the displaced, which have become a hotbed for infectious diseases amid poor sanitation and running out of sanitizers and vaccine stocks, are facing the imminent danger of a public health crisis.

According to the World Health Organization, Gaza hospitals also face a deficiency of medical staff, including surgeons, neurosurgeons, and ICU staff, while medics on the ground have to deal with extremely volatile working conditions amid fear of Israeli bombardment.

JERUSALEM - The bloody Israel-Hamas conflict entered its 100th day on Sunday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledging to continue the military campaign in the Gaza Strip until "total victory" is achieved.

"We must conduct this war, and it will yet take many months," said Netanyahu despite growing international calls to halt the war due to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

During his weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu presented a 2024 budget proposal to his government, seeking approval for a plan that involves tax hikes and the implementation of a uniform 3 percent reduction in the budgets of all government ministries to secure funding for the ongoing war against Hamas.

"At this moment, what is required is, first of all, to cover the expenses of the war and to allow us to continue the war and complete it," Netanyahu told ministers.

His remarks came as Israel awaited a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, with a possible decision against its massive and crippling offensive in Gaza.

Launched following the Hamas assault on Oct 7, 2023, Israel's relentless strikes in the densely-populated Palestinian enclave have killed at least 23,843 people, with approximately 75 percent of them being women, children, and the elderly, according to the Hamas-run government media office.

The strikes have displaced most of Gaza's about 2.3 million population and leveled many parts of the territory.

Since Saturday, thousands of Israelis have rallied in Tel Aviv and other major cities, calling for the return of the hostages and the replacement of the government.

During the Oct 7 rampage, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, including 790 civilians, and kidnapped over 200 people, 132 of whom are still being held in Gaza.

According to figures released by the Israeli military on Sunday, since the commencement of the war, its troops have killed approximately 9,000 militants in Gaza.

Additionally, 170 militants from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Palestinian factions were killed in clashes with Israeli forces on the Lebanon front.

The Israeli army, mobilizing about 295,000 reservists, has launched attacks on around 30,000 locations in the 365 square km Palestinian enclave and 750 locations in Lebanon.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday in a speech that his group "doesn't fear war, and there are no talks before the war on Gaza ends".

According to Nasrallah, "Israel is mired in failure and is in a deep hole ... It has not reached any of its declared and undeclared goals as unanimously stated by the Israelis themselves."

China is deeply concerned about escalating tension in the Red Sea, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Cairo on Sunday.

The waters of the Red Sea are an important artery for international cargo and for the energy industry and China calls for a stop to harassment and attacks of civilian vessels in the region, Wang said at a joint news conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

At the same time, he noted that the United Nations Security Council has not authorized any country to use force against Yemen, adding that a further escalation of tension should be avoided.

Tension in the Red Sea is a manifestation of spillover from the conflict in Gaza, and top priority should be given to ending that conflict as soon as possible, he said.

GAZA -- At least 20 Palestinians were killed after Israel attacked a house in Gaza City on Saturday morning, the state-run Palestine TV reported.

The report, citing a statement from Palestinian Civil Defense, said that "the bodies of 20 martyrs were recovered after the Israeli bombing of a house in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City."

The Al-Daraj neighborhood, a densely populated area in the center of the city, has witnessed clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in recent days, local sources told Xinhua.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the strip has risen to 23,843, updated the Gaza-based Health Ministry on Saturday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 135 Palestinians and wounded 312 others during the past 24 hours.

The statement added that since its outbreak on Oct 7, 2023, the Israel-Hamas conflict has led to 60,317 injuries among Palestinians in the enclave, noting that a large number of victims are believed to be under the rubble of destroyed buildings, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

The Palestine-Israel conflict that has been ongoing for nearly 100 days may set off a chain reaction and exacerbate instability in the Middle East, experts warned.

Israel has launched a military assault in Gaza that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians and displaced over 2 million people, following Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel in which 1,200 people died and 240 were abducted.

Weeks of disruptive Houthi attacks on Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea have led to heavy Western airstrikes in Yemen on Friday.

Also, Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the conflict began.

More than three months of violence have killed 190 people in Lebanon, more than 140 of them Hezbollah fighters and over 20 civilians, including three journalists, Agence France-Presse reported.

And from Oct 17, there have been more than 130 assaults on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.

Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Research Center for the Belt and Road at Lanzhou University, said the longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the higher the risk of regional conflict widening due to the potential for escalation and miscalculation by multiple actors.

"The humanitarian crisis in Palestine is deeply concerning, and if the conflict continues to escalate, millions more in Gaza and West Bank will be forced to endure extreme difficulties," he said.

Furthermore, a United Nations report states that 1 in 4 people in Gaza are experiencing starvation, and in certain areas, 9 out of 10 families spent a full day and night without any food at all.

"These tragedies will further deepen the preexisting hatred in the region, leading to more chain reactions and injecting additional uncertainties in the long run," Zhu said.

Global supply chain

He also highlighted that the recent disturbances in the Red Sea could disrupt the global supply chain and bring in more uncertainties.

"As container ships are being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, adding thousands of kilometers to their journeys, the disruption is driving up the cost of shipments from Asia to Europe. This raises the prospect of a renewed inflation shock for the global economy," he said.

"There's been an immediate volatility in oil price and prices of some of the other commodities that transit through, but it takes a while for this to feed through to what prices consumers pay," Marco Forgione, director-general at the Institute of Export and International Trade, told Politico.

Experts also criticized the United States for its irresponsible approach and double standards in the Palestine-Israel crisis.

"The US has long been adjusting its Middle East strategies and shift away from this region to focus more on countering China's development. However, its actions are further inflaming tensions in the region," Zhu said.

The US has been stockpiling military supplies to Israel, including at least 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells since the conflict began, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

"The US has launched several wars in the Middle East back in history, which have resulted in ongoing chaos and poverty in the region," Zhu said. He also underscored the role of Western countries, led by the US, in unconditionally supporting Israel, which is a significant contributing factor to the escalation of the regional conflict.

Washington has long ignored the legitimate needs of countries and peoples in the Middle East, Zhu said.

"Some Western countries, led by the US, often accuse others of genocide, but have chosen to turn a blind eye on the humanitarian tragedies unfolding in Gaza, manipulating international media to play a 'double standard'," he said.

Agencies via Xinhua contributed to this story.

liujianqiao@chinadaily.com.cn

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 23,357, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 147 Palestinians and wounded 243 others during the past 24 hours.

The Ministry added that since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct 7, 59,410 Palestinians were wounded as a result of Israeli attacks.

According to Palestinian security sources, intense Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea continued in most parts of the Gaza Strip, especially in the governorates of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

For his part, Israeli army spokesperson Avichai Adraee announced that the army attacked more than 150 targets in the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours.

Adraee said that Air Force jets attacked many militants in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, while army forces uncovered more than 15 underground tunnel openings in the area.

"During a raid on military buildings in Al-Maghazi, the forces found platforms for launching rocket-propelled grenades, rockets, drones, and explosive materials. In addition, the fighters destroyed a machine for making rocket-propelled grenades that was found in the area," he added.

The Gaza Strip has been under massive Israeli bombardment and siege since Oct 7, 2023, which came in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas on the same day on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

GAZA -- At least 40 people were killed or wounded on Wednesday in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house adjacent to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, the media office of Hamas said in a statement.

The statement added that a journalist named Ahmed Badir was killed in the attack, calling on the international community to stop the "war waged by the Israeli army against civilians, including children and women."

Meanwhile, at least four members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance crews were killed after Israeli attacks targeted an ambulance vehicle at the entrance of Deir el-Balah, the PRCS said in a statement.

At least 147 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll in the enclave to 23,357 since the onset of the ongoing conflict on Oct 7, 2023, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Israel has been launching a large-scale military offensive in the Palestinian enclave in retaliation for an unprecedented attack by the Hamas movement on southern Israel over three months ago, which claimed the lives of around 1,200 Israelis, according to the Israeli authorities.