Chinese FM urges early ceasefire in Gaza Strip at UN

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the international community to jointly push for an early ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, put forward China's four-point proposal on ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza at a high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East.

The conflict has dragged on for over 300 days, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and heightening the spillover effects in the wider Middle East region, Wang said.

The U.N. Security Council cannot afford to sit idly by, he stressed.

China proposes that the conflict should not continue and a comprehensive ceasefire must be reached immediately; the principle of "the Palestinians governing Palestine" should be followed and joint efforts must be made to advance post-war governance; justice should be upheld and the two-state solution must be put back on the table as soon as possible; and international support is indispensable and peace and stability in the Middle East must be maintained, Wang said.

"One more day of war means more civilian casualties and broken families. One more region where conflict spreads means more spillovers of crises and hatred. We must act with the utmost sense of urgency to push for permanent ceasefire in and comprehensive withdrawal of troops from Gaza. The parties to the conflict must fully implement the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and not to take any more reckless moves that aggravate the tensions," he said.

China stands ready to work with all countries that stand for peace and justice, including Arab and Islamic nations, to end the fighting at an early date, stop conflict from spilling over, implement the two-state solution and promote peace in the Middle East, Wang said.

Chinese FM urges early ceasefire in Gaza Strip at UN

Chinese FM urges early ceasefire in Gaza Strip at UN

The U.S.-led international mission formed a decade ago to combat the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq will cease to exist by September 2025, said a joint statement issued Friday by the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

There will be, however, a "transitioning to bilateral security partnerships in a manner that supports Iraqi forces and maintains pressure on ISIS," said the statement, which on the U.S. part was carried by the State Department's website, using the abbreviation of an alternative name of the Islamic State known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

According to the statement, the Iraq-U.S. Higher Military Commission which consists of representatives from both sides will formulate necessary measures to ensure the safety of coalition advisors present in Iraq during the transitional period.

The coalition's military mission in neighboring Syria, where the Islamic State also operates, "will continue until September 2026," the statement said.

The statement provided few details as to what, if any, number of U.S. troops will leave Iraq as a result of the end of the mission.

"I just want to foot stomp the fact that this is not a withdrawal. This is a transition. It's a transition from a coalition military mission to an expanded U.S.-Iraqi bilateral security relationship," a senior U.S. official told reporters during a briefing Friday.

The United States has some 2,500 military personnel in Iraq and roughly 900 troops in Syria, tasked with the mission of fighting Islamic State militants while also serving as trainers and advisors to local security forces.

U.S.-led coalition mission in Iraq drawing to end by September 2025