الكاتب: kafej

When Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a ceasefire and an end to the “collective punishment” of the people of Gaza on the sidelines of the BRICS summit this week, his comments added to a steady drumbeat of criticism of Israel since the start of its war with Hamas.

“It is necessary to ensure the safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance and stop the collective punishment against the people of Gaza through forced eviction, as well as turning off water, electricity and oil,” Xi said on Tuesday via video link at the summit hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

China’s initial response to the conflict was cautious and equivocal in apportioning blame.

Beijing waited until a day after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel to call on the “relevant parties” to end hostilities and stress the need for a two-state solution, and did not condemn the Palestinian armed group or mention it by name.

But within a week of the attack, Chinese diplomats began to call Israel’s bombardment of Gaza a form of collective punishment and insist that the country’s right to self-defence should be guided by international law and not come at the expense of innocent civilians.

Since then, Beijing has called for multilateral and peaceful solutions to the conflict of the kind promoted by the United Nations, where Beijing took the helm of the powerful Security Council earlier this month.

China, which has expressed its desire to be a peace broker in the Middle East, this week welcomed the announcement of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Friday.

Chinese state media was quick to claim credit on Beijing’s behalf, with the state-run Global Times saying the ceasefire could be attributed to multiple factors including “the latest UN Security Council resolution adopted under China’s rotating presidency” and “the strong voice of the Global South”.

China’s stance on the war is a matter of contention among analysts.

While some see a clear pro-Palestinian through-line in Beijing’s foreign policy, others argue it is simply mirroring a global balance of opinion that is increasingly critical of Israel’s bombing campaign.

Before the war, China maintained friendly relations with both Israel and the Palestinians.

During the Mao Zedong era in the 1960s, Beijing viewed the Palestinian cause as part of the global campaign against imperialism and armed factions of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

China now buys large quantities of oil from Iran, one of Hamas’s main patrons, and key broker Qatar, as well as other Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia.

Under Xi, China’s comments about the war have been fairly consistent with past statements about Gaza made in 2008, 2014, and 2021, according to The China Project, typically calling for an end to violence and a mediated resolution.

In 2008, for instance, former top diplomat Qin Gang called for an end to “actions that cause injuries and deaths to ordinary people” and for all parties to “exercise maximum restraint and to settle differences through dialogue”.

Still, there have been noticeable shifts in Beijing’s rhetoric towards statements that are more critical of Israel, said Benjamin Ho Tze Ern, an assistant professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ (RSIS) China programme, such as its statement that the country had “gone beyond self-defence”.

Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said in a recent commentary that China was clearly signalling its support of the Palestinian side.

“The rhetoric from Beijing is carefully designed to focus on the broader context, such as implementing the two-state solution, addressing humanitarian issues and preventing the conflict from turning into a regional one,” Aboudouh wrote in a commentary on Chatham House’s website in October.

“It has refrained from describing the Hamas incursion into Israel as a terrorist attack but has called Israel’s retaliation ‘collective punishment’ of Palestinian civilians – signalling its opposition to an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.”

Manoj Kewalramani, a foreign policy analyst for the Bangalore-based Takshashila institution, said China’s statements during the most recent conflict have shown a distinct pro-Palestine bent.

“Since [October 8], Beijing has been critical of Israel’s actions, warning about violations of humanitarian law and against ‘collective punishment. It has consistently called for a ceasefire, the need to avoid a spill-over of the conflict and the need to host a broader peace conference with a clear roadmap for a two-state solution,” Kewalramani said.

China has also not shied away from positively expressing its support for Palestinians.

Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a group of visiting diplomats from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Indonesia that China was a “good friend and brother of Arab and Muslim countries” and a firm supporter “of the cause of the Palestinian people”.

However, Hongda Fan, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, rejected the notion that Beijing is “biased against Israel”.

Fan said Beijing’s position simply reflects the balance of global public opinion amid mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, where at least 14,532 have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities.

“The ‘two-state solution’ has not yet gained universal acceptance in Israel. In addition, China’s relations with Arab countries and Iran have been developing relatively smoothly in recent years. These factors combine to make China appear to be siding with Palestine. Not really,” he said.

“And overall, international public opinion is becoming increasingly unfavourable to Israel, which also shows that China’s position is not biased against Israel,” he said.

RISIS’s Ho said the conflict has helped China score points against the United States, its main competitor, which is Israel’s biggest ally and backer.

As US officials travelled through the region in October and November, Chinese diplomats did the same, visiting countries including Qatar, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while also meeting with Israeli representatives in Beijing.

“Since US policies seem to be more aligned with Israel, it is not surprising that China tends to align with Palestine, which is also viewed as the underdog,” Ho told Al Jazeera.

“This reflects China’s ‘underdog diplomacy’ and that it wants to be seen as on the side – or at least, demonstrating support for – states that are being ostracised by the West.”

State media shows leader Kim Jong Un and his family enjoying a banquet with scientists and engineers involved in the project.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has celebrated a “new era of a space power” following the country’s launch of its first-ever military spy satellite earlier this week.

Pyongyang said it successfully launched the satellite, the Malligyong-1, into orbit late on Tuesday, and within hours claimed Kim was reviewing images of United States military bases in Guam.

The launch was “a full-fledged exercise of the right to self-defence,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Kim as saying during a visit to the national space agency.

The launch was an “eye-opening event” that would help protect North Korea from the “dangerous and aggressive moves of hostile forces” and heralded “a new era of a space power,” he added.

The launch, banned under United Nations sanctions designed to rein in the nuclear-armed country’s ballistic missiles programme, has further ratcheted up tension on the peninsula with Seoul partially suspending and Pyongyang completely suspending the 2018 joint military agreement that was supposed to stabilise cross-border relations.

On Friday, Seoul’s foreign ministry announced that the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China would hold their first trilateral talks since 2019.

The Sunday meeting in the southern port city of Busan will see Park Jin, Yoko Kamikawa and Wang Yi sit down for discussions against the backdrop of Beijing’s growing concerns over Tokyo and Seoul’s deepening security ties with Washington, and the latter’s concerns about North Korea’s continuing military development and its deepening relationship with Russia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already warned that military ties between North Korea and Russia were “growing and dangerous” after Kim travelled to Russia in September to meet President Vladimir Putin.

Blinken has urged Beijing, Pyongyang’s main ally, to call for some restraint.

At the summit, the foreign ministers “plan to exchange opinions extensively on the direction of development of trilateral cooperation, regional and international situations,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

‘Paternal love’

This week’s launch was the North’s third attempt in six months to put a spy satellite – a priority of Kim’s military modernisation programme – into orbit.

Its earlier efforts in May and August ended in failure.

Images released by North Korean state media on Friday showed Kim, accompanied by his daughter, praising scientists and space programme workers at the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA).

Kim was also shown enjoying a reception with NATA workers, top military and political officials and his family.

The attendees, including Kim’s family, wore T-shirts emblazoned with NATA’s logo and “enthusiastically cheered expressing thanks to the great father who finally ensured the successful launch”, KCNA said.

Kim showed “such paternal love for the space scientists,” it added.

Since Tuesday’s launch, South Korea has deployed “surveillance and reconnaissance assets” to the border after partially withdrawing from the 2018 agreement, while Pyongyang has said it will redeploy troops there and suspend the deal in full.

A temporary truce period between Israel and Hamas has begun – with the first group of Israeli women and children due to be released later today.

There has been no official word from either side as to whether there has been a pause in the fighting – however, the truce period was due to start at 7am local time (5am UK).

The handover of up to 50 Israeli captives is expected to be carried out in stages as the temporary pause in hostilities gets under way.

The agreement – brokered by Qatari mediators – will see a halt to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bombardment of Gaza to allow a swap of hostages for Israeli prisoners.

As many as 30 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails are due to be sent in the opposite direction.

The temporary truce is expected to last for four days.

Israel-Gaza latest – follow live

Alongside the exchange of hostages and prisoners, aid will be allowed into Gaza after the seven-week siege saw fuel and medical supplies cut off.

The first hostages are due to be freed at 4pm local time (2pm UK) this afternoon, followed by the next stages of the agreement.

Read more:
Hostage-for-prisoner swap and truce in Gaza
Israel has questions to answer after WHO’s report
Hamas claims ‘at least 50 killed’ in attack on school

The deal was finalised after weeks of negotiations involving Qatari mediators and backed by US President Joe Biden.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border fence on 7 October – killing 1,200 people and seizing about 240 hostages.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s bombardment began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.

As the war enters its 639th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Friday, November 24, 2023.

Fighting

• Vitaliy Barabash, head of the military administration in Avdiivka, said Russian forces had unleashed “the fiercest” attacks on the devastated town. “Everything is very tough,” Barabash told Channel 24 television. “As regards the city, there is an average number of eight to 16 to 18 air attacks per day. Sometimes 30. We don’t have time to count them.” He added that the defence line was holding. Fewer than 1,400 of the 32,000 people who lived in the town before the war remain. Barabash said 102 residents had been evacuated over the past week.
• At least six people were killed and five injured in Russian attacks on various parts of Ukraine, including three people in a cluster bomb attack on a suburb of the southern city of Kherson, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Cluster bombs are used by both Russia and Ukraine. Critics say the weapons litter the ground and harm and kill many more civilians than soldiers.
• Russian actress Polina Menshikh was killed in a Ukrainian attack while performing to Russian troops in a Russian-controlled area of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, her theatre said. Military officials on both sides confirmed there had been a Ukrainian attack in the area on November 19. Russia said a school and cultural centre had been hit in the village of Kumachovo, known as Kumachove by Ukrainians, killing one civilian. Ukraine said it struck a Russian military award ceremony, targeting Russia’s 810th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade. Robert Brovdi, a Ukrainian military commander, said 25 people had been killed and 100 injured. Russia made no mention of military casualties in the attack. Kumachove is about 60km (37 miles) from the front line.
• Russian state television said Rossiya 24 correspondent Boris Maksudov had died from injuries sustained earlier this week in a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhia. Russia’s Defence Ministry announced he had been injured on Wednesday, but said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Politics and diplomacy

• Ukraine’s national seed bank, the 10th largest seed collection in the world, has been moved from the northeastern city of Kharkiv to a safer location, said Crop Trust, a nonprofit organisation, without revealing the collection’s new location. The genebank includes many endemic seed species, some of which, including wheat and rapeseed, are important for food security.
• A Russian military court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ukrainian Dmitri Golubev to 18 years in prison for trying to blow up buildings in the Moscow-occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol in August last year. Golubev was found guilty on charges of “international terrorism” for one explosion and two attempted blasts in a plot prosecutors said was orchestrated by Kyiv, Russian state media reported.
• Sergey Mironov, a Russian lawmaker and supporter of President Vladimir Putin, denied a BBC report that he adopted a child forcibly taken from a Ukrainian orphanage in Kherson last year. Citing Russian and Ukrainian documents, the BBC reported that Mironov had adopted a child, now two years old, who was taken from an orphanage in the Ukrainian city of Kherson last year by a woman who is now his wife. Without commenting on specific details of the report, Mironov dismissed the investigation as a “hysteric fake”, saying it was an “information attack” designed to “discredit” him.
• A Russian court fined online search giant Google four million roubles ($44,582) for failing to delete what the court called “fake information” about the course of the war in Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported.

Centre-right National Party forms three-way coalition with the classically liberal ACT and populist New Zealand First.

New Zealand’s National Party has agreed to form a coalition government with two other right-leaning parties, heralding a shift towards lower taxes and less government bureaucracy.

The centre-right National Party on Friday signed an agreement to govern in a coalition with the classically liberal ACT and populist New Zealand First parties nearly six weeks after the country held its general elections.

The formal agreement comes after National Party leader Christopher Luxon announced on Thursday that the three parties had agreed to form an alliance.

Under the agreement, Luxon, a former airline executive, will serve as prime minister from Monday, alongside New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as foreign minister.

Peters and the ACT’s David Seymour will share the role of deputy prime minister, with the New Zealand First leader handing over the baton halfway through the parliamentary term.

The coalition’s manifesto includes pledges to cut personal income taxes, train 500 more police within two years, and rewrite the central bank’s mandate to focus solely on keeping inflation low.

“Our government will rebuild the economy to ease the cost of living and deliver tax relief to increase the prosperity of all New Zealanders,” Luxon said on Friday.

“Our government will restore law and order, and personal responsibility, so that Kiwis are safer in their own communities.”

The agreement caps weeks of intense negotiations after New Zealanders voted on October 14 for a change of direction after six years of governance by the centre-left Labour Party.

Luxon’s National Party won 48 of 123 seats in parliament, compared with Labour’s 34. ACT and New Zealand First picked up 11 and eight seats, respectively.

Labour’s outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins held the top job for just nine months, following Jacinda Ardern’s surprise decision to step down at the start of the year.

Ardern won the 2020 election in a landslide but saw her popularity dip amid mounting frustration with the country’s COVID-19 curbs and rising living costs.