China's Wang Yi urges Israel to halt West Bank settlement expansion

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Israel to stop what he called the forced establishment of settlements in the West Bank and reverse its actions, according to his office.

Wang met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference in Azerbaijan. During their face-to-face meeting, he described the Palestinian question as the greatest historical injustice of this century.

Beijing has long supported the Palestinian cause and has maintained that a two-state solution is the correct direction.

Wang said the immediate priority was to fully open access to Gaza and halt the continued spread of what he described as a humanitarian catastrophe.

He also said China was willing to work with the international community to bring the parties back to dialogue and seek a political solution to the conflict.

Herzog offered his own account in a post on X, saying he was pleased to meet Wang and that their discussion focused on bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East.

He said he emphasized Israel's desire for regional peace alongside strategic threats to its security, identifying Iran and its terror proxies as the foremost threats.