President,

I welcome you to New York to preside over today’s meeting. And I thank Secretary-General Guterres for his briefing. China welcomes the Special Representative of the President of Palestine and foreign ministers of Arabic states and other countries at today’s meeting. 

Over the past six months since the outbreak of the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has stepped up to shoulder its responsibility and worked with the international community to do its utmost to save lives and realize peace. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly elaborated on China’s positions on the current situation, calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the fighting in order to prevent the conflict from expanding and ensure safe and smooth flow of humanitarian relief. He has also emphasized that the fundamental way out is to implement the two-State solution, so as to promote a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the question of Palestine at an early date. 

As the conflict still goes on, the situation on the ground is precarious. War is a test of conscience and justice, while peace calls for rationality and responsibility. The international community, especially the UN Security Council, must demonstrate firm determination, make the right choice, and take vigorous actions. 

An immediate ceasefire must be promoted with the utmost urgency. Ramadan has already ended, but the people of Gaza still have not seen the long-awaited ceasefire. Moreover, the negative effect of the conflict continued to spill over. The cruel reality of more than six months has made it abundantly clear that continuation of the fighting will not make either side safer. Rather, it will only result in more innocent civilian casualties and drag the entire region into an even greater catastrophe. We urge Israel to effectively implement Security Council Resolution 2728, immediately reverse its course and cease its military operations against Gaza and abandon any plans to attack Rafah. We urge the country with important influence on the parties to the conflict to take an impartial stand and make concrete efforts to promote a ceasefire. We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint and refrain from taking any actions that can exacerbate tensions, so as to prevent the conflict from further expanding. 

Tangible actions must be taken to alleviate the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Even if the people of Gaza are lucky enough to escape shelling and airstrikes, they still have to face a man-made famine. Such a catastrophe in the 21st century breaches the bottom line of moral conscience. Israel must act in accordance with the orders of the ICJ and relevant Security Council resolutions, lift the blockade on Gaza, open all land crossings, and guarantee adequate and rapid access for humanitarian supplies and their safe and orderly distribution within Gaza. UNRWA is the pillar of humanitarian relief in Gaza and its role is irreplaceable. We oppose any malicious attacks and suppression against UNRWA, and call on countries concerned to resume funding to the Agency as soon as possible. 

The two-State solution must be revitalized with strong determination. The fundamental way out for the Middle East question lies in the implementation of the two-State solution, so that both Palestinians and Israelis can realize common security and both the Arab and Jewish peoples can achieve common development. The current round of conflict is an extremely tragic warning to the international community that it can no longer evade the aspiration of the Palestinian people for independence and statehood or perpetuate the historical injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people. China calls for intensified international diplomatic efforts to revitalize the political horizon of the two-State solution. In this connection, we call for an international peace conference that is more broad-based and effective to develop a timeline and roadmap for the realization of the two-State solution. 

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has dragged on for more than 70 years. Israel has long realized its independence and statehood. But the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood have long been disregarded. Full membership in the UN is an important step for Palestine to establish an independent state. Palestine has requested renewed consideration of its application for full membership in the UN. China calls on all members of the Council to take a responsible attitude in light of history and cast a favorable vote this afternoon to support Palestine in joining the UN family as a full member. 

Thank you, President.