China tells Israel to stop ‘forced establishment’ of West Bank settlements

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has informed Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a gathering in Azerbaijan that Israel should stop and reverse its "forced establishment" of West Bank settlements, China's foreign ministry noted in an official note.

Key points

• China was Iran's largest trading partner, buying up to 90 percent of its oil, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
• Wang informed Herzog that China has consistently viewed the Palestinian question as the greatest historical injustice of this century, the ministry stated in the statement on Friday.
• In March, China criticised the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Beijing demanding an immediate halt to the joint attacks.
• Xi's rare visit arrived as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region against the backdrop of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Wang emphasised that the "two-state solution" is the right path to a resolution and remarked the immediate priority is to fully open access to the Gaza Strip so a humanitarian "catastrophe" is not allowed to spread.

Wang continued that China is willing to work with the international community to push all parties to return to dialogue as shortly as feasible and seek a political settlement.

As the special representative of President Xi Jinping, China's state news agency Xinhua documented, wang is attending the Seventh Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. China urges new Middle East framework.

In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Cairo for the first time in a decade and called on Middle East countries to oppose external influence and consider reshaping the region's security order.

For context, the discussions covered the US-Israel war on Iran, with both presidents urging "diplomatic solutions" to reach a "comprehensive agreement to end the war", according to a statement from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's spokesperson.

In March, China criticised the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Beijing demanding an immediate halt to the joint attacks. Wang informed his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that the attack on Iran came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran had "made significant progress, including addressing Israel's security concerns", China's foreign ministry stated in an official note after the start of the war.

China was Iran's largest trading partner, buying up to 90 percent of its oil, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. In 2021, Beijing signed a 25-year "comprehensive strategic partnership agreement" with Tehran.

Meanwhile, Beijing has spent the past decade cultivating closer ties with Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and remains a top trade partner of both the US and Israel.

In short, china tells Israel to stop 'forced establishment' of West Bank settlements is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.