China to promote early, proper settlement of Palestinian issue amid escalation of violence

Palestinians hold the Palestinian national flag and the flag of the Hamas militant group during a protest by the Dome of Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. (AP)
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Updated 07 April 2023
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China to promote early, proper settlement of Palestinian issue amid escalation of violence

  • Israeli warplanes bombed several military sites in Gaza Strip overnight into Friday morning

BEIJING: China will continue to work hard to promote early and proper settlement of the Palestinian issue, its foreign ministry quoted China's special envoy for Middle East affairs as saying on Friday.

China is deeply concerned about the heightened conflict that Israel has with the Palestinians and Lebanon, and calls for maximum calm and restraint from all sides, especially Israel, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Zhai Jun said when meeting Middle East envoys in Beijing.

Israeli warplanes bombed several military sites belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups in different areas of the Gaza Strip overnight into Friday morning in response to what it said were Hamas missiles fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli towns in recent days..

The bombardment also targeted agricultural and open areas, in addition to watchtowers on the eastern border.

During the bombing, Palestinian factions fired shells toward Israeli towns, most of which were intercepted by the Israeli air defense system Iron Dome.

* With Reuters

 


US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

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US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack on a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.

“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.

“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.

“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.

 

 

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.

The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital, Anadolu Agency reported.

The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.