Palestinian militants fire rockets towards Israel from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 11, 2023. /CFP
Editor's note: Hannan Hussain, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a foreign affairs commentator, author, and assistant research associate at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
The imperative for de-escalation couldn't be clearer. Days after Palestinian group Hamas launched its arguably deadliest attack in decades as part of a multipronged offensive in Israel, retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza have killed over 1055 Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also put together an emergency government with a new war cabinet.
The onus falls on responsible regional and international actors to support global momentum for crisis control. Zhai Jun, Special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, recently spoke on the phone with Amal Jadou, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Palestine, calling for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilian lives and the need to resume peace talks based on the two-state solution.
The widespread humanitarian suffering marks a dramatic escalation in decades-old tensions between Israel and Palestine, prompting the international community to step up calls for maximum restraint and focus on pathways for an effective ceasefire. A series of underlying factors have contributed to the latest wave of escalations, making their nuanced understanding key to resuming dialogue and refocusing attention on an independent Palestinian state.
One of the central irritants to peace for months was the growing violence of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank, where targeting of villages and refugee camps defied UN warnings about tensions spiraling "out of control." Limited resolve to contain settler violence has also raised the specter of intense armed escalations between Israel and Hamas in the past, making it critical to address these irritants at present to limit the possibilities of protracted human suffering.
Prospects of an effective ceasefire can break ground if no side construes sustained loss of civilian life and infrastructure as a definite course of action. Devastating airstrikes in Gaza are a case in point: more than 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced, while intensified fighting complicates international momentum to contain the crisis. Alongside China's support for peace, Egypt remains a practiced hand in ceasefire mediation between Israel and armed Palestinian groups. From the outset, it moved to step up de-escalation talks with regional allies during aerial strikes. However, it will require a principled departure from any cycle of "vengeance" in Gaza to cool hostilities between warring parties and support momentum for a limited ceasefire.
Smoke rises after Israeli forces launched an airstrike on Gaza City, Gaza on October 7, 2023. /CFP
Since October 7, the presence of two competing operations has also complicated near-term expectations on maximum restraint. The United Nations along with governments across the Middle East led these calls, leaving much to accomplish for effective mutual restraint.
On the one hand, Hamas termed its attacks as the start of "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood," a reference to the storming of the religiously sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque in earlier months. As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu puts his weight behind an emergency government, the move risks empowering hard-right elements to back further settler incursions into Al-Aqsa. On the other hand, "Operation Iron Swords" – Israel's response to Hamas – is marked by heavy airstrikes on Gaza that make it difficult for international peace brokers to create conditions that are favorable to crisis control.
In order to prepare the ground for any meaningful form of restraint, it is imperative to protect civilians suffering from indiscriminate attacks. "China will continue to promote a ceasefire to stop the violence, help alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and actively promote peace and negotiations, so as to play a constructive role in promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine," Zhai told Jadou.
History is a valuable guide. The deadly violence has once again reinforced the value of a just and negotiated two-state solution. For years, mediation efforts on the Israel-Palestinian issue have struggled to break ground on independent Palestinian statehood, an outcome aligned with key UN resolutions and a central requirement for enduring peace in the region.
Past spells of Israel-Palestinian violence have emerged out of this very settlement vacuum, prompting deviation from the original Middle East peace plan and generating greater space for conflict flashpoints.
As the latest wave of deadly attacks has made clear, that is an outcome no party can afford.
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