Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 24: In the face of Israel swearing not to stop before totally annihilating Hamas, Qatar on Tuesday asked the international community not to grant Israel “unrestricted authorisation to kill” and China changing its stance accepting the right of self-defence of Israel but asked to honour the international humanitarian laws and protect the civilians.
In his first public comments since Qatar began its most recent efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas, Qatar’s ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani urged the international community not to grant Israel “unrestricted authorisation to kill” Palestinians in its fight against Hamas in what he called a dangerous escalation that threatens global security.
“We say enough. Israel shouldn’t be granted an unconditional green light and unrestricted authorisation to kill,” he said in an annual speech to open the Gulf Arab state’s advisory Shura council. The Palestinian health ministry said the Gaza death toll had topped 5,000 in two weeks of Israeli air strikes in response to Hamas’ surprise October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which the Islamist militant group killed more than 1,400 people and captured more than 200 hostages.
The wealthy gas-producer Qatar has had an open dialogue with both Israel and Hamas which has brought about the release of four hostages held by Hamas, including two Israeli women on Monday. “We call for a serious regional and international stance against this dangerous escalation that we are witnessing, which threatens the security of the region and the world,” Sheikh Tamim said. “We do not accept double standards and acting like the lives of Palestinian children aren’t accounted for, as if they don’t have faces or names.”
China which last week had demanded Israel to immediately cease-fire against Hamas, on the eve of its foreign minister Wang Yi’s high profile visit to the United States acknowledged on Tuesday that Israel has the right to self- defence against Hamas. “Every country has the right to self-defence but should abide by international humanitarian law and protect civilians,” Wang told his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in a telephone call.
The remarks seem to represent the first time Beijing has acknowledged that Israel has the right to take action against Hamas – designated as a terrorist organization by the US and European Union. China’s president, Xi Jinping, called last week for an immediate cease-fire while offering to coordinate with Egypt and other Arab nations “to push for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue as soon as possible.” China had so far refrained from condemning Hamas, which killed 1,400 people, many of them civilians. The US congressional leaders confronted Xi over the issue on a visit to Beijing.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked China to stand with Israel and condemn the attacks, hours after he assailed Wang for showing “no sympathy or support for Israel during these tough, troubled times.” The Israelis also openly rebuked China. “Israel is deeply disappointed at China’s official statements and media reports,” Deputy Director-General in charge of Asia-Pacific Affairs Rafi Harpaz told Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun during a call.
Wang reiterated in Monday’s call that China is “deeply concerned by the continued escalation of the conflict and the intensification of the situation” and “deeply saddened by the large number of civilian casualties caused by the conflict.” He once again condemned all acts that harm civilians and opposes any violations of international laws.
The pivot occurred shortly before Wang’s planned visit to US this week for high-level meetings. He will be in Washington Oct. 26 to Oct. 28 and will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, senior Biden administration officials said on a briefing call with reporters on Monday.
In a television interview last week, Ambassador Nicholas Burns in Beijing said the US and China had differing views on the Israel-Hamas war. President Joe Biden affirmed the US’s strong support for Israel during a visit to the country this week, while China has aligned with the Palestinian cause and avoided condemning Hamas.
Wang said Monday China did not pursue any selfish interests the issue and sincerely hopes that differences between Israel and Palestine can be comprehensively and fairly resolved on the basis of the two-state solution, so that the legitimate security concerns of all parties can be truly and thoroughly addressed. “China will firmly support anything that is conducive to peace and will do its best as long as it is conducive to the reconciliation between Palestine and Israel,” he added.