China and France have called for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, according to a joint statement issued during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s two-day official visit with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
The so-called two-state solution, a plan to create a Palestinian state within territory occupied by Israel since 1967, is supported by the UN and a raft of individual nations, including Israel’s key ally the US. If implemented, it would likely require the Jewish state to remove its settlers from the occupied territories.
Macron and Xi have called for “a decisive and irreversible relaunch of a political process” to implement “the two-state solution with Jerusalem as their capital, and the creation of a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 lines,” the joint statement reads.
The term “1967 lines” refers to Israel’s borders as they stood before the Six-Day War fought that year against a coalition of Arab nations. As a result of the war, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and other areas. A return to these lines would see Israel withdraw from those areas, including East Jerusalem.
In February Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said he would not be pressured into accepting a Palestinian state.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier this year that Israel’s “clear and repeated rejection” of the two-state solution “is unacceptable” and “would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security.”
In a separate statement cited by the Chinese media, China and France condemned violations of international humanitarian law such as indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Gaza.
Macron and Xi stated their mutual opposition to an Israeli operation in Rafah, which they warned “will lead to a greater humanitarian disaster.”
The Israeli government launched an offensive against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. The death toll from Israel’s retaliation in the enclave is nearing 35,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Xi is on his first trip to Europe in five years. After France, the Chinese leader is set to visit Serbia and Hungary.
