Warning that “tragic scenes on the ground” in Gaza are “just the tip of the iceberg of the humanitarian catastrophe,” China said hunger in the besieged Palestinian enclave “cannot be weaponized.”
“Hunger cannot be weaponized, humanitarian issues cannot be politicized, and the man-made exacerbation of the humanitarian disaster is unacceptable,” Chinese Ambassador Fu Cong told a Tuesday UN Security Council briefing on Gaza.
Calling on Israel to “fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law, heed the overwhelming call of the international community,” Fu said Tel Aviv should “take concrete actions to ensure the rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies at scale into Gaza.”
A Security Council resolution meant to expand humanitarian access inside Gaza “has clearly not materialized,” he said.
“It is necessary to examine the reasons why the resolution has not been effectively implemented,” Fu said, calling for safe and orderly distribution of humanitarian supplies throughout Gaza, and cooperation with the UN and other humanitarian organizations.
In an apparent reference to the US, the ambassador said: “We call upon the country concerned to work harder to push for political will from the party concerned to effectively remove obstacles preventing the large-scale entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
"Immediate realization of a lasting cease-fire and the early relaunch of a two-state solution” are both necessary to save innocent lives, Fu said.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Nearly 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.