President Xi Jinping on Friday held small-group talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
Xi is on a state visit to Tajikistan after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana and paying a state visit to Kazakhstan.
"China and Tajikistan are connected by mountains and rivers, interdependent like lips and teeth, and sharing a common destiny. The relationship between the two countries has deep historical roots, a solid political foundation, rich content of cooperation, and broad popular support. With joint efforts of both sides, China and Tajikistan have continuously deepened their political mutual trust, yielded fruitful results in the Belt and Road cooperation, and progressed a series of major projects smoothly, strongly promoting the common development of both countries. Last year,Your Excellency paid a state visit to China, and we decided to commit to building a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit. This time, we will jointly announce to develop the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Tajikistan in the new era, and make new plans and arrangements for mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields," said Xi.
Xi, Tajik president hold small-group talks
Xi, Tajik president hold small-group talks
At least 16 Palestinians were killed, most of them children and women, in an Israeli bombing of a UN-run school sheltering displaced people in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon.
The Al-Jaouni school was bombed for the third time since the onset of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report about the incident, according to Israeli media.
In a statement on Saturday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the attacked school sheltered about 7,000 displaced people, adding that since the outbreak of the conflict, the Israeli army has bombed more than 17 schools and displacement and shelter centers inside the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Displaced Palestinians who live in the school recalled the incident with horror.
"It was a terrifying moment for us as old people, let alone the horror of the children and the women who were killed. The children were playing in the school yard and they were mercilessly and inhumanly bombarded," said Ahmed Hamza, a displaced Palestinian.
"We were sitting at the door when suddenly the bombing happened. It was a terrifying moment for all of us. I crawled towards the disabled room where I was staying. God protected me from this bombing," said Fayza Hassan, another displaced Palestinian.
UN statistics estimated earlier this week that the number of people internally displaced within Gaza has risen to 1.9 million people, or about 19 out of every 20 people in the Strip.
The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 38,153, health authorities in the Palestinian enclave said in a statement on Sunday.
At least 16 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip
