China denies for first time allegations of transferring weapons to Hamas

Trung Quốc lần đầu bác cáo buộc chuyển vũ khí cho Hamas - 1 — A Chinese truck carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza waits to depart in Cairo, Egypt in November 2023. China says it only provides humanitarian aid to Gaza, but not weapons (Photo: Xinhua).

China has provided food, medical aid and other emergency assistance to Palestinians but has never provided weapons or military equipment to conflict zones, Wu Qian, a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, said on January 25.

According to SCMP , this is the first time Beijing has denied supplying weapons to Hamas militants since the conflict began.

"It must be emphasized that China has always taken a cautious and responsible attitude when exporting weapons and strictly adhered to the three principles of arms export," Mr. Ngo said.

According to China's arms export regulations, arms sales must serve the legitimate self-defense capabilities of the recipient country, not harm world and regional peace, security and stability, and not interfere in the internal affairs of the recipient country.

Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had discovered a “huge” cache of Chinese-made weapons being used by Hamas in Gaza.

The IDF investigation found that Hamas possessed advanced weapons and equipment manufactured in China, such as ammunition and rifle sights for M16 assault rifles, automatic grenade launchers, and communications equipment.

"This is top-notch weapons and communications technology that Hamas has never possessed, with highly sophisticated explosives that have never been found before, especially on such a large scale," the Telegraph quoted an Israeli intelligence source as saying.

The report also said that "no one believes" the weapons were transported on Chinese ships, but the large number of weapons suggests they were brought to Gaza in an organized manner.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Hamas has released about 100 people, but Israel says it still holds about 130 hostages in Gaza.

In response, Israel launched a campaign of air strikes and ground attacks that have killed more than 25,500 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health authority.

China has maintained a neutral stance in the conflict and called on both sides to seek a peaceful solution. However, Beijing has also accused Israel of "excessive self-defense" in Gaza.

During a visit to Cairo last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for convening a “larger-scale, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference” to implement the “two-state solution” and resume peace talks to end the war in Gaza.

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