Given the latest conflict and humanitarian crisis in the middle east, and the risk of the conflict expanding to involve other state actors throughout the region, Nathaniel Schochet and Earl Carr explore the possible opportunities, persistent limitations and the core geostrategic objectives of China’s mediation role in the 2023 Israel-Hamas War and elsewhere.

False images cannot obscure the truth for long. Eventually, the truth comes out for the world to see. The humanitarian disaster in Palestine will not go away until Israel and the United States change their policies and turn the only viable alternative — a two-state solution — into reality.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a very old problem which has become much more complicated now because of the treatment that the people of Palestine have been receiving from Israel. It has been brewing over time and suddenly recently it became very explosive and unacceptable against any civilised standard.

Despite massive aid, U.S. policies have failed to achieve peace in Israel, West Bank and Gaza, thus eroding U.S. credibility in the region. Why did U.S. policies fail? Could Chinese policies contribute to peace?

Arab countries in particular will play an important role as event in the Russia-Ukraine conflict disrupt economic patterns. They may see an opportunity to regain stature in the international arena.

During the Cold War, Europe was America’s strategic priority. East Asia was largely a sideshow, even though the United States fought bloody wars in Korea and Vietnam, and also provided security for Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

America has failed, but the effect should be modest for China, which has taken reasonable steps to eradicate the roots of extremism at home and weakened external links. Its constructive role must continue.

The concept is a foreign one, as China has always stressed the independence of all nation-states as they make their own decisions both domestically and regionally. Moreover, the United States will not be leaving the Middle East anytime soon.

China has called for an immediate cease-fire and an end to violence to save the lives of innocent civilians on both sides. The ultimate solution, in China’s view, lies in a two-state solution. The Palestinians who live in the region are entitled to a state of their own, no less than Israelis.

The new U.S. president will want to invest hard strategic resources in the Asia-Pacific region, which will require the use of diplomatic and economic measures to maintain its strategic presence in the Middle East. The arrangement looks reasonable, but it is doomed to fail.