BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the Israel-Hamas war in a phone call on Monday, agreeing “to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis”, Beijing’s state media reported.
“The two heads of state exchanged views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and both believe that the top priority is to avoid further deterioration of the situation between Palestine and Israel, especially to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The phone call comes days ahead of a visit to China by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and as a delegation of top diplomats from the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan meet in Beijing for talks aimed at a “de-escalation” of the conflict in Gaza.
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According to CCTV, Xi and Macron agreed to “continue to maintain communication on international and regional issues of common concern and contribute to maintaining world peace and stability”.
“The ‘two state solution’ is the fundamental way to solve the recurrent conflict between Palestine and Israel,” the state broadcaster added.
Macron visited China in April for a three-day state visit, during which he was hosted by Xi in the capital Beijing and met students in the southern city of Guangzhou.
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