Three Chinese citizens have been killed in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian armed Islamist movement Hamas, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
“We have confirmation that three Chinese nationals were killed in the clashes. Two are missing and several others are injured,” Wang Wenbin, a ministry spokesman, said at a regular news conference.
“We deeply pay tribute to those who died and express our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims and those injured,” he said.
“The relevant Chinese missions abroad are making considerable efforts to coordinate the rescue and treatment of the injured and to make arrangements for the deceased.”
The spokesman also called on all parties to “take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese organizations and nationals.”
Israel, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his visit, continued its shelling of the Gaza Strip on Thursday and vowed to “destroy” Hamas on the sixth day of the war sparked by the Islamist movement’s bloody offensive.
According to the Israeli army, more than 1,200 people were killed in Israel, most of them civilians. According to a recent report from the Gaza authorities, 1,200 people also died on the Palestinian side.
Chinese diplomacy, which facilitated the spectacular rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier this year, regularly claims to want to contribute to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been at a standstill since 2014.