BEIJING, March23, 2011 (WAFA) - China condemned on Wednesday, targeting civilians in the Gaza strip, expressing its strong opposition to the Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian Territory.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Jiang Yu , in a press statement,  Considered settlement activities an obstacle to revive the halted peace process.

She said that “China condemns all violent actions against innocent civilians, and strongly opposes Israel’s construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian Territory”

She explained that “This doesn’t help the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, nor serves in building mutual political trust … China hopes that Israel would take practical measures to create favorable conditions for resuming the peace negotiations”.

She asserted on “The necessity of not ignoring the events in the region, especially the Palestinian cause which is the core of conflict in the Middle East…there is a need to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East”.

 “ China wants to work with the International Community side by side to achieve comprehensive peace in the Middle East as soon as possible”, she added.

The spokeswoman said that the  Chinese Middle East envoy, Wu Sike, starts his visit today, March 23, to Palestine, Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Qatar.

Y.Y./F.R.