US’ Israel move sees China strike

China’s wedging its way into the Israel-Hamas war. And the US gave it the means to do so.

Washington’s unquestioning support for Israel has the war-torn region looking for alternatives to act as an impartial mediator in the Gaza crisis.

And China – desperate to be seen as a major global player – is keen to be seen as doing so.

This week, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, and the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation visited Beijing.

It was their first stop on a global tour designed to build support for an internationally monitored ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Beijing saw it as vindication of its efforts to emphasise Washington’s apparent ‘double standards” when it comes to any war waged by Israel.

And Chairman Xi Jinping took the opportunity to once again call for a ceasefire “to realise lasting peace and security”.

“All parties in the conflicts should immediately cease fire and hostilities, stop all violence and attacks targeting civilians, and release civilian detainees to avoid more loss of lives and suffering,” Xi stated. He also “called on the international community to take concrete measures to prevent the escalation of the conflicts and the impact on the stability of the entire Middle East.”

Meanwhile, Washington was doing precisely that – behind the scenes.

Weeks of negotiations led by the US, Qatar and Egypt have brought Hamas and Israel to the brink of a temporary truce. In exchange for a four-day pause in Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, Hamas promises to release 50 of the 220 hostages it says it seized on October 7. The remaining 160, it insists, are in the hands of other militant groups.

It’s a tangible breakthrough that could pave the way to further de-escalation and “ultimately peace”, says Chatham House security analyst Nomi Bar-Yaacov.

But is it enough to help Washington save face?

“If the Biden administration wants to undo some of the damage it has inflicted on US credibility in its unqualified support for Israel it would need a major political initiative to pursue a durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” argues International Crisis Group director Joost Hilterman.

However, Beijing has a much easier task: Saying the right things while doing nothing.

Words come cheap

“What China is looking to do now is to capitalise on criticism of the US in the region,” Gedaliah Afterman, Asia policy analyst for Israel’s Reichman University, told the Atlantic Council think tank this week.

“But if the US manages to wind up the war relatively quickly and to push some kind of political process with the Palestinians, some kind of regional process with Saudi Arabia, initiatives like the India Middle East economic corridor, get them back on the table … I think that China could suffer on the political front.”

China has traditionally been sympathetic towards the plight of Palestinians evicted from their homes by various Israeli occupations since 1947. But, earlier this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to travel to Beijing to announce a new military technology and trade deal in open defiance of US President Joe Biden.

But the October 7 assault by Hamas intervened.

And Beijing is yet to condemn the terror attack that killed 1200.

“China wants to talk. China is happy to make a lot of statements but is not very interested in taking an active role currently in the conflict,” says Afterman. “It’s basically trying to present itself as a balanced player, calling for stability, calling for peace, calling for a ceasefire …

“But what we’ve seen as the war moved forward (is) a greater focus on attacking the United States and criticising the United States and saying that they’re basically enabling the attack of Gaza and the killing of civilians in Gaza.”

“Double standards” weak spot

Attacks on Ukrainian civilian power facilities, schools and public facilities by Russia have been condemned by the United States. But Israel’s targeting of Gazan civilian infrastructure has not.

The forced expulsion of Ukrainians from their homes in occupied territory and the deportation of children has been labelled a “war crime”. Similar behaviours by Israel in the occupied West Bank have not.

And that’s given Beijing an out amid the sustained pressure it faces to follow the “rules-based order” in its oppression of the Uighur and Tibetan ethnic-religious minority groups and its territorial ambitions towards the Himalayas, Taiwan, and East and South China Seas.

“The various diplomatic measures the US undertakes violate the morality of a major power,” crows the Communist Party’s Global Times.

“When US President Joe Biden met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 18, he actually expressed support for Israel’s counter-attack instead of trying to ease the situation. That emboldened Israel to launch ruthless military strikes against Palestine.”

It’s a message falling on fertile ears.

“Like Muslims in other parts of the world, Malaysian Muslims generally think that the West practices double standards when it comes to the solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” International Islamic University of Malaysia associate professor Tunku Mohar Mokhtar told DW this week.

Action, or reaction?

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo appealed to President Biden in a recent visit to accept “the root cause of the conflict (is) the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel.” He implored for the President to “do more to stop the atrocities in Gaza.”

Biden now finds himself in a double bind.

He needs the support of Islamic nations like Indonesia and Malaysia to oppose Beijing in the South China Sea.

But he faces growing anger from his own electorate at his apparent eagerness to support Israel, no matter what. And any perceived backdown from such unquestioning support will incite the Republican opposition.

And there’s a presidential election next year.

“For now, the United States can put pressure on Israel to at least abide by the rules of war, agree to humanitarian pauses, and allow vastly more aid into Gaza as the basis for a way out of the current crisis,” says Hilterman. “It is clear that any solution would require far stronger US pressure on Israel than has been evident to date.”

Meanwhile, Beijing just has to keep telling those upset at Washington what they want to hear.

“Can China mediate peace between Israel and the Palestinians? No. Of course not. That would be completely unrealistic,” says Afterman. “But can China play a role in pressuring Qatar and Egypt into, you know, securing the release of the Israeli and international hostages held by Hamas? I think it can. Can China help bringing aid or facilitating, you know, aid to Palestinians in Gaza? I think it can.

“There’s some potential roles that China can play in the conflict, but it needs to decide to do so. And so far, we haven’t seen any real sign that China really wants to do any of these things.”

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @JamieSeidel