At BRICS Summit, Xi Jinping urges ceasefire, release of hostages in Israel-Hamas conflict

During a virtual summit of BRICS leaders on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. According to Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi said, “All parties in the conflicts should immediately cease fire and hostilities, stop all violence and attacks targeting civilians, and release civilian detainees to avoid more loss of lives and suffering.” He did not make specific reference to the estimated 240 hostages abducted from Israel by Hamas last month, nor to Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel. Xi Jinping also advocated for an “international peace conference” to address the Israel-Hamas conflict, stating that a just solution to the question of Palestine is essential for sustainable peace and security in the West Asia. “China calls for an early convening of an international peace conference that is more authoritative to build international consensus for peace,” he said. “Since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has been working actively to promote peace talks and a ceasefire,” he said. Beijing, he said, “has provided humanitarian assistance to help ease the humanitarian plight in Gaza” and would continue to do so. Pretoria is hosting a virtual meeting of BRICS – a group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas conflict, reported AFP. The call for an immediate ceasefire has been a consistent stance from Beijing since the start of the conflict last month. With inputs from agencies