President,

I thank Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo for her briefing.

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh that took place yesterday in Iran's capital Tehran. This act was a blatant attempt to sabotage peace efforts and wantonly trampled on the fundamental UN Charter principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states. China is deeply worried about an exacerbation of the upheaval in the region that this incident may trigger. 

The Gaza conflict has been going on for nearly 300 days, resulting in nearly 40,000 deaths and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Over two months ago, the Council adopted Resolution 2735. As of now, however, ceasefire negotiations have yet to yield any progress, while the spillover effects of this conflict are increasingly visible, with the tensions between Lebanon and Israel, between Syria and Israel, and in the Red Sea sounding the alarm frequently. The Middle East situation is hanging by a thread, much to the concern of the international community. 

Given the severity of the situation, the parties concerned must heed the international calls for a ceasefire and cessation of fighting. They must implement Council resolutions fully, actively coordinate with and support international good offices, and take tangible actions to push for deescalation and the restoration of peace and tranquility in the region. They must not act singlemindedly and repeatedly take provocative or risky actions to stoke escalations. We strongly object to and condemn the recent irresponsible acts, including Israel’s attack on Southern Beirut. 

China reiterates that military means and abuse of force offer no solution and will only lead to a bigger crisis. The continued deterioration of the Middle East situation is directly attributable to the continuous failure to implement a ceasefire in Gaza. We urge all parties to comply with the overwhelming international consensus and work jointly for an immediate ceasefire to save lives, mitigate the impact of the havoc, and contain any spillovers. We urge Israel to implement Council resolutions in full, immediately halt all its military operations in Gaza, and immediately stop its collective punishment of the people in Gaza. Countries with major influence must put more pressure and work more vigorously on the parties concerned and make tangible good-faith efforts to put out the flames of war in Gaza. 

I thank you, President.