BEIJING, China
China welcomed on Wednesday a truce deal between Israel and Hamas, after they reached an agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause in exchange for the release of 50 hostages in Gaza.
"We welcome the temporary
ceasefire agreement reached by relevant parties," foreign ministry
spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing.
Beijing hopes "that it
will help ease the plight of the humanitarian crisis, de-escalate the conflict
and ease tensions", Mao said.
"Since the outbreak of
the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has always called for
a ceasefire and made unremitting efforts to cool down the situation, protect
civilians and carry out humanitarian assistance," she added.
Qatar confirmed on Wednesday
that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement after weeks of intense,
behind-the-scenes negotiations aimed at freeing some of the 240 hostages held
in Gaza in return for a temporary ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid.
Hamas gunmen stormed across
Israel's border on October 7 and staged the deadliest attack in the country's
history.
Israel says the attack killed
1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 240 more were taken hostage, among
them elderly people and children.
In response, Israel launched a
relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which the
Hamas government says has killed more than 14,100 people, thousands of them
children.
China has historically been
sympathetic to the Palestinians and supportive of a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Tuesday, President Xi
Jinping called for an "immediate" ceasefire and for the release of
civilian detainees.
He called for an
"international peace conference" to resolve the conflict.
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