Indonesian Foreign Minister To Saudi Arabia Sambangi Bejing Discusses Gaza War, Wang Yi: China Will Try To Substitute Fighting

JAKARTA - China will seek to quell fighting and reduce the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, when holding a meeting with ministers from member countries of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Beijing, Monday.

This delegation consists of Secretary General of OKI Hissein Brahim Taha, as well as among others Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki. The delegation was received by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The delegation, which will meet with officials representing each of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, also put pressure on the West to reject Israel's justification for its actions against Palestinians as a form of self-defense.

"We are here to send a clear signal: that we must immediately stop fighting and killings, we must immediately send humanitarian supplies to Gaza," Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was a "good friend and brother to Arab and Muslim countries," adding his party "always firmly supports the Palestinian people's struggle to restore their legitimate national rights and interests."

Since the latest crisis in Gaza broke out last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly called for deescalation and for Israel-Palestinian to seek a two-state solution, instead of criticizing Hamas.

"China will seek to quell the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, alleviate the humanitarian crisis and push for an early, comprehensive, fair and lasting Palestinian problem solving," Foreign Minister Wang Yi added.

Separately, Israel's Ambassador to Beijing Irit Ben-Abba told foreign journalists on Monday he hoped there would be no "any statement from this visit regarding the ceasefire, now is not the right time."

He said Israel hoped the delegation would speak of the hostages detained by Hamas "and called for their immediate release without preconditions", adding the parties involved should speak together about "Egypt's role in facilitating humanitarian aid."

The media office in Gaza said on Sunday the death toll in the region since October 7 had reached 13,000 people, including more than 5,500 children and 3,500 women, as quoted by Anadolu.

Meanwhile, the number of injured victims has exceeded 30,000, with more than 75 percent of them children and women, he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the government said the number of missing people reached 6,000, and most of them were thought to be lying under the rubble of collapsed buildings.