The key facts
- Wang Yi met with Herzog on the sidelines of the seventh CICA summit in Baku and urged a halt to the 'forced creation' of settlements in the West Bank.
- China named the full opening of access to Gaza for its two million residents as an urgent priority.
- Herzog emphasized Israel's desire for peace and the security threats, 'primarily from Iran and its terrorist proxies'.
Meeting in Baku
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday on the sidelines of the seventh CICA summit in Baku. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi urged Israel to halt the 'forced creation' of settlements in the occupied West Bank and to reverse these actions. He called the Palestinian question 'the greatest historical injustice of this century' and stated that the two-state solution is 'the right direction'.
Priority — Access to Gaza
Wang Yi described the situation in the region as tense and named the full opening of access to Gaza as an urgent priority, so that its two million residents do not face a further humanitarian catastrophe. According to the BBC, since the ceasefire began in October 2025, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza; the ceasefire became the first stage of a deal to end the war that began after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, but the transition to the next stage is blocked — Israel and Hamas mutually accuse each other of violating the terms.
Support for Palestine and Bilateral Relations
At a separate meeting with Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Wang Yi stated that China 'firmly' supports 'the just struggle of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights,' and that without a just resolution of the Palestinian question, lasting peace in the Middle East is impossible. According to Palestinian ministry figures cited by Anadolu, since October 2023 the Israeli offensive in Gaza, with US support, has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and wounded over 175,000, destroying 90% of the enclave's infrastructure.
Herzog's Position and Context
Herzog said on X that he was 'glad' to have the meeting, which concerned bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East. He emphasized Israel's desire for peace in the region alongside 'strategic' security threats, 'primarily from Iran and its terrorist proxies.' The BBC notes that China maintains close ties with Iran and is the largest buyer of Iranian oil. Wang Yi also noted that in 2027 it will be 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and 10 years of the innovative comprehensive partnership, and expressed readiness to develop cooperation. Beijing has previously acted as a mediator: in 2023 it restored diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and in 2024 it secured an agreement among rival Palestinian factions on a temporary 'government of national reconciliation,' which was never implemented.
Image source, Getty Images
China has been positioning itself as a mediator for conflicts in the Middle East
