The picture shows homeless children from Lebanon waiting on the Syria-Lebanon border on October 7, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua)
In recent days, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched attacks on positions of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stationed in southern Lebanon. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on October 11 that China is gravely concerned over and strongly condemns the IDF's attack on the positions and observation towers , which injured personnel from UNIFIL. Any deliberate attack on UN peacekeepers is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and UNSC Resolution 1701. It is absolutely unacceptable and shall be put to an immediate stop.
The new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lingered on for a whole year, involving multiple states, driving civilians away from home, and causing a serious humanitarian crisis. The cruel war has fully proven that military means and violence are no ways to settle disputes, and a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance are the top priority now. "Palestinians governing Palestine" is the basic principle of post-war reconstruction in Gaza, and the two-state solution is the fundamental way out for the future.
Israel's attacks on UNIFIL are a gross violation of international law. The UNIFIL has encountered numerous dangers after the Lebanon-Israel conflict escalated. On the afternoon of September 19th, several aerobombs exploded around the camps of the 22nd Chinese peacekeeping multi-role engineering company to UNIFIL, and the blast waves and bomb debris damaged some camp facilities. On October 10th and 11th, IDF tanks attacked multiple UNIFIL bases in south Lebanon. In the face of such deliberate attacks against international law, UNIFIL stressed in its statement that any deliberate attack on UN peacekeepers is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and UNSC Resolution 1701. Israel's blatant attacks against UNIFIL, which injured multiple UN peacekeepers, have been severely condemned by the international community.
Israel should take immediate action to de-escalate the situation. Since the new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out in October 2023, the tit-for-tat violence has kept exacerbating the Middle East tension, with obvious spillover effects spreading from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank all the way to Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The number of conflicting parties is rising too, from Israel and Hamas at first to the addition of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi, and Iran.
The international community is deeply concerned about the recent escalation in Lebanon, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate stop to the cycle of violence and urged all sides to step back from the brink. "The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, as well as the wider region, cannot afford an all-out war," he said.
Implementing the two-state solution is the only way out. The constantly escalating situation in the Middle East has shown over and over that only by fully implementing the two-state solution will it be possible to bring real peace to the region and lasting security to Israel. To stop the escalation, what's needed is not resounding slogans or ambitious plans, but tangible, down-to-earth actions by the international community, and a constructive role played by influential major countries.
The UN peacekeeping forces are defending peace with life. Israel must immediately stop its attacks on UNIFIL in any form. The international community has long reached extensive consensus on de-escalation, reaching a ceasefire, and settling the conflict by diplomatic means. Israel should work with the international community to bring the warfare to an early end, and push the Israeli-Palestinian issue back to the right track of implementing the two-state solution.
Editor's note: Originally published on haiwainet.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
