China’s envoy to the United Nations has warned that the Israel-Gaza war could escalate and spill over into Syria. At a Security Council briefing, Dai Bing urged Israel to open humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip and restrain its air strikes against Syrian targets to avoid a broader war.

Dai Bing is the charge d’affaires of China’s permanent mission to the UN and has urged Israel to open all routes to Gaza for humanitarian goods, according to China’s state-run media outlet, South China Morning Post. Dail also says that “extraterritorial powers” should help prevent conflict from expanding, in what appears to be a not-so-veiled swipe at the United States warmongers.

“We call upon Israel to effectively fulfill its obligations as the occupying party under the Geneva Conventions, to fully cooperate with the implementation of Security Council resolutions, and to open all access routes by land, sea, and air in order to guarantee the safe, rapid and unimpeded entry of humanitarian goods,” Dai said. He added that Israel should “strictly adhere to deconfliction”, citing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) provisional measures imposed on Israel in January that “Israel must take all possible measures to prevent genocidal acts as outlined in Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention”.

The Chinese envoy also said Beijing supported the UN in investigating The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which had its funding cut after some of its staff were accused of involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th.

Israel Says UN Chief Must Resign

China’s International Court of Justice representative Ma Xinmin told a hearing on Monday that Beijing supported the Palestinian right to self-determination, adding that “numerous [UN General Assembly] resolutions recognize the legitimacy of struggling by all available means, including armed struggle.” Ma added: “The Palestinian-Israeli conflict stems from Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory and Israel’s long-standing oppression of the Palestinian people,” Ma said.

“Israel has continued to launch air strikes on various locations in Syria through the Golan Heights it occupies … China calls on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid escalating tensions.”

Israel-Hamas War Intensifies As Humanitarian Crisis Worsens