China announces humanitarian aid including food, medicine to Gaza

BEIJING: The Chinese government will provide another batch of emergency humanitarian assistance of 15 million yuan (about $2.05 million), including food and medicine to Gaza, said Xu Wei, spokesman for the China International Development Cooperation Agency on Thursday.

China is saddened by the fact that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has resulted in a large number of civilian casualties and a significant deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Xu said.

To help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, China has already provided $1 million in cash through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Palestinian National Authority separately, Xu said.

Yesterday, Russia and China vetoed a US push resolution to the United Nations Security Council in favor of Israel on the Gaza conflict.

The US resolution shocked many diplomats with its bluntness in stating Israel has a right to defend itself and demanding Iran stop exporting arms to groups. It did not include a call for humanitarian pauses for aid access. But it largely toned down the final text that was put to the vote.

“We did listen to all of you,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the 15-member council after the double veto.

Ten members voted for the US resolution, while the United Arab Emirates voted no and Brazil and Mozambique abstained.

“The draft does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire, an end to the fighting, and it does not help resolve the issue,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote. “At this moment, ceasefire is not just a diplomatic term. It means the life and death of many civilians.”

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the US of putting up a draft resolution that represented Security Council authorization of a ground offensive in Gaza by Israel “while thousands of Palestinian children will continue to die.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been appealing for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules Gaza, in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,400 people. Israel has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege on the enclave of 2.3 million people and is preparing a ground invasion. Palestinian authorities say more than 6,500 have been killed.