Recently, Chinese interest has increased, through the Chinese Ministry of State Security, which is responsible for Chinese intelligence, in the outcomes of the negotiations between the heads of the Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish, and American intelligence agencies to conclude a peace agreement in the Gaza Strip. This coincided with the republication of the official Chinese warning by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday, September 26, 2025, against the return of a “Cold War mentality,” defending a multiplicity of political solutions based on the idea of multipolarity, away from American unilateral decision-making, especially as is currently happening regarding the Gaza Strip. This is a veiled Chinese criticism of the United States from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly. China has also officially expressed its willingness to continue working with the international community, including Egypt, to make strenuous efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East. China adheres to the principle of Palestine being governed by the Palestinians themselves, which is the existing international consensus on the Palestinian issue, and any arrangements related to the future of the Gaza Strip must respect the will of the Palestinian people. With China calling for a peace conference to end the war in Gaza and its willingness to work with the Egyptian and Arab sides to form five frameworks for cooperation to promote the building of a community with a shared future for China and the Arab states, China believes that “Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is not a political bargaining chip, as is currently the case due to the policies of the United States and Israel, let alone a target for the law of the jungle.” This was confirmed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson “Lin Jian”, who said, “China has always emphasized that Palestinian rule by the Palestinians must be the fundamental principle of governance in the Gaza Strip after the war.”
Chinese intelligence agencies, represented by the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chinese think tanks concerned with Middle Eastern affairs, have issued numerous analyses regarding the terms of the Sharm El-Sheikh Conference and what was agreed upon. This is particularly true with the Chinese intelligence community’s analysis of US President Donald Trump’s speech during the Sharm El-Sheikh Conference Summit, which Beijing’s political, intelligence, and security circles considered a deliberate exclusion of any discussion of the political future of the Palestinians. According to the Chinese view, Trump’s speech dealt with the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as two separate files that could be contained administratively and security-wise, not politically. From a Chinese intelligence perspective, Trump’s speech also avoided all the protocol phrases that previous US administrations have used when proposing any initiative related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Trump’s speech at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit omitted any mention of the two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority, or any negotiating commitment linking a ceasefire to immediate and urgent solutions to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
China believes that Trump’s arrogant policies on the Palestinian issue may help China strengthen its international influence, especially given his hardline policies toward European allies and countries in the Global South.
Beijing’s political, intelligence, and security circles also criticized President Trump’s talk during the Sharm El-Sheikh summit about expanding the Abraham Accords, even anticipating the involvement of parties historically hostile to Israel in the normalization arrangements. The Chinese believed that Washington and Tel Aviv were playing to their own interests during the Sharm El-Sheikh conference, far from any actual and tangible solution to the Palestinian issue. The agreement proposed at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit from the Chinese perspective is nothing more than US-Israeli technical arrangements for a prisoner exchange and a reduction in the level of fighting. It is not an actual declaration of the end of the war in the Gaza Strip and therefore does not impose any real and practical obligations on the Israeli side.
Hence, Chinese political, intelligence, and security circles believe that Trump’s statements during the Sharm El-Sheikh summit and his failure to offer practical and realistic solutions that literally stipulate the rule of Gaza by the Palestinians themselves contradict Trump’s speech at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit and constitute a unilateral change and procrastination of the status quo in Gaza. China asserts that the US speech at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit lacked an explicit statement that Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories that must remain under Palestinian control. Trump’s statements and speech at the summit represent a threat to international agreements and the rights of Palestinians to their lands, as he neglected to mention any rights of the residents of the Gaza Strip. Chinese political and intelligence circles believe that such American statements contribute to sending the wrong message to right-wing movements in Israel, that Gaza will not be governed by the Palestinians, the original owners of the land, which could harm regional stability. China firmly affirms that Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, and they alone have the right to decide the fate of their country, not any other country.
Accordingly, China officially believes that the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit and US President Trump’s speech during it omitted several essential points and clauses, most importantly that the key to achieving lasting peace between Palestine and Israel and resolving the problem of rebuilding Gaza after the war must be respecting the Palestinian people’s choice, rebuilding the Strip under Palestinian leadership, and establishing an independent Palestinian state in accordance with international law. China believes that in this way, there can be lasting peace between Palestine and Israel, and in the entire Middle East region, if the United States and Israel themselves recognize that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to build their state on their land without any coercive interventions from external parties.
Hence, China proposes several practical solutions and immediate solutions, with the support of its political, intelligence, and security circles, to address the escalating crisis in the Middle East. This includes supporting multilateral efforts to end the violence in Gaza immediately and contain any wider regional conflagration. China has done this primarily through its participation in the UN Security Council, where it is a permanent member, and in other international organizations. Chinese officials have also been keen to conduct high-level visits to the region to engage with stakeholders, including Israel and Hamas. China’s efforts in this context can be summarized as follows:
Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023, China has intensified its diplomatic efforts to seek a ceasefire and a solution to the worsening humanitarian crisis. China has employed strong diplomatic rhetoric against Israeli crimes in Gaza and condemned the US position, particularly the obstacles created by the US vote against a series of ceasefire resolutions in the Security Council. Moreover, China has supported various International Court of Justice resolutions condemning Israel and has affirmed in various international forums the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state and obtain full membership in the United Nations, as well as to end the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people.
In this context, the Gaza conflict has provided China with an opportunity to enhance its international reputation as a force seeking peace in the Middle East, in contrast to the deteriorating international reputation of the United States, particularly in the Middle East, as a result of its pro-Israel stance and its intransigence in passing ceasefire resolutions in the Security Council. For example, the United States vetoed an Algerian proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza in the Security Council on February 20, 2024, after 13 members voted in favor and the United Kingdom abstained. The United States argued that any ceasefire plan without forcing Hamas to release prisoners would not guarantee a lasting peace and a solution to the conflict, sparking intense anger against the United States.
Moreover, China succeeded in bringing Fatah and Hamas together at the negotiating table in Beijing for two national dialogue sessions in April and June 2024, a move that reflects China’s desire to engage positively in the Palestinian issue. In the first session in April 2024, Fatah and Hamas agreed on eight key points to be the focus of the negotiations and to sign an agreement to end the division and strengthen national unity among Palestinian factions in the second session of the talks. In the second session, held in July 2024, 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, met and issued the “Beijing Declaration on Ending the Division and Strengthening National Unity,” which included eight points for joint action. The most important provisions of this agreement were forming an interim national government, forming a unified Palestinian leadership before the upcoming elections, holding free elections for a new Palestinian National Council, and publicly declaring unity in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks. This move reflects China’s distinguished ability to engage in dialogue and political negotiations in the region.
In this context, China proposes the Global Security Initiative, the core of which is the concept of common security, to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and achieve international peace and stability, particularly in light of the repercussions of this Palestinian-Israeli conflict, its threat to regional security and stability, and the serious challenges facing world peace. Therefore, China presents its Global Security Initiative and calls for its adoption in Palestine to maintain sustainable peace and security. This initiative, proposed by Chinese President “Xi Jinping”, calls for “adherence to the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security.” China’s Global Security Initiative within the Gaza Strip and for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is based on the following principles and criteria proposed by China:
1) Adherence to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter is essential: The United Nations, especially the Security Council, cannot remain idle in the face of this bloody conflict. Effective measures must be taken to achieve the primary goal, which is a ceasefire. Preventing any state from doing so is immoral and extremely dangerous.
2) The legitimate security concerns of all parties must be respected: The security interests of all parties are equal and must be addressed equally. The security of any party cannot be separated from the security of the common one. Discrimination and duplicity are unacceptable. Absolute security will not last at the expense of the security of others, and so-called security will not be achieved if it is not compatible with morality.
3) Dialogue and negotiation must prevail as the only correct option: All acts of violence targeting civilians must be condemned. Collective punishment of civilians will not achieve true security, and violence, in turn, will only increase hatred. A military solution is futile. The greater the difficulties and challenges, the greater the courage and boldness required for dialogue and negotiation.
4) China calls for a more credible, influential, and broader international peace conference to establish a timetable and roadmap for implementing the two-state solution. At this difficult time, we hope that all peace-loving countries will stand with peace and make the necessary efforts to halt the humanitarian catastrophe, advance the Middle East peace process, and maintain global peace and security, embodying the spirit of the Global Security Initiative.
Accordingly, China seeks to implement President Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative through several channels to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and stop the current war in the Gaza Strip. This can be achieved through:
1) As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China actively participates in the urgent debate in the Security Council by supporting the urgent appeal issued by Secretary-General António Guterres for the protection of civilians. It will also provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian National Authority through the United Nations.
2) China calls for the immediate convening of an international peace conference with greater credibility, influence, and scale under the auspices of the United Nations, which will build international consensus on advancing peace negotiations and advancing the search for a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue as soon as possible.
3) China seeks to promote the concepts of global security and a shared future for humanity regarding the Palestinian issue. China emphasizes that humanity lives in a community with a shared future, sharing both good and evil, and that peace and development are intertwined with the future and destiny of humanity. Building a community with a shared future for humanity is the future of the peoples of the world. This is comprehensively reflected in the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the World Civilization Initiative proposed by “Xi Jinping”, which are key to resolving the Palestinian issue.
4) China believes that development is the key to solving all problems and that there can be no true peace without development. China considers that the Israeli occupation, which has lasted for more than half a century, has severely restricted economic and social development in Palestine, and that recurring violent conflicts continue to exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinian people. The international community must increase development and humanitarian assistance to Palestine, resolve conflicts through development, and eliminate insecurity.
5) China believes that development and peace are inseparable, and prosperity cannot be separated from stability. The key to resolving the security dilemma of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in adopting the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security. True and lasting security and real development for both sides can only be achieved by respecting and addressing the concerns of both sides and finding the greatest common denominator through political dialogue and peaceful negotiations.
Accordingly, we understand that China plays a significant and essential role in putting the Palestinian issue and its resolution on the right track, with China’s constant emphasis that Gaza is governed by the Palestinians, not by other stakeholders. This highlights China’s constant commitment to finding a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by imposing the principle of a two-state solution.
