China backs UNSC on Gaza truce

Calls renewed as fighting, lack of safe routes continue to impede aid efforts

China said it supports the United Nations Security Council to renew its push for an immediate cease-fire and a sustained flow of assistance to the Gaza Strip, while stating that military activities and a lack of safe routes continue to impede humanitarian operations.

Its call came amid renewed mass displacements in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, at the behest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has insisted that the Palestinian militant group Hamas must be obliterated and all hostages returned before Israel ends its military offensive, which is nearing its ninth month.

At the UN Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, on Tuesday, Fu Cong, permanent representative of China to the UN, said: "The council adopted Resolution 2720 with the intent to expand at scale humanitarian access, but it has clearly not materialized."