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Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russia fire a projectile during intense shelling on the front line in Bakhmut, Ukraine late last month.

As Ukraine scrambles to keep international support with Russia’s invasion grinding into a third year, its leader has made clear one country he would like to see join his push for peace: China.

Ratcheting up pressure on Beijing – Moscow’s most powerful political ally – appeared as a key talking point for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials this week during a gathering of the global elite in Switzerland’s Davos.

There, Zelensky told reporters he would “very much like China to be involved” in Ukraine’s peace plan. His foreign minister said the country wanted more contact with China at “all levels,” Interfax-Ukraine reported, while Zelensky’s chief of staff left the door open that the wartime leader could even meet China’s top delegate on the gathering’s sidelines.

But Chinese Premier Li Qiang appeared to depart the World Economic Forum earlier this week without meeting Zelensky – and didn’t directly address the conflict in a roughly 25-minute speech that focused heavily on reassuring his audience about China’s faltering economy.

Even as Chinese officials last year ramped up efforts to present the country as a potential peace broker in the war, analysts say it’s unlikely Beijing sees now as the time to leverage its deep and growing Russia ties to ramp up a push for its end – especially on Ukraine’s terms.

“China thinks it is already playing an important role in moving toward peace. It’s just the Chinese version of peace is not what Zelensky wants to see,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.

Last year, after Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke to Zelensky for the first time some 14 months after the war began, Beijing dispatched an envoy to both Kyiv and Moscow. It has also released its own proposal for peace, which unlike Ukraine’s demands, calls for a ceasefire without the prior withdrawal of Russian troops illegally occupying Ukrainian territory.

Now, the latest events at Davos spotlight China’s wait-and-see approach when it comes to any further push to bring the war to a close, analysts say, as fighting remains locked in stalemate with neither side giving signs of backing down – and another major conflict, in the Middle East, draws global attention.

“China previously might have wanted to mediate because it didn’t want Russia to lose too badly. But now there is less worry on that front … China has more incentive to observe how battlefield development will evolve, which will form the foundation for any (peace) negotiation,” according to Sun.

“Now that the US is distracted by Gaza and the resources available to Ukraine are more limited, things have shifted in Russia’s favor. There is even less reason for China to ‘advance a fair peace as advocated by the West and Ukraine,’” she said.

China responds to conflict in Gaza

As Li focused on the economy in Davos, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi kept his focus on Gaza earlier this week.

In Cairo as part of the foreign minister’s customary first trip of the year to Africa, Wang issued a joint statement with the Arab League calling for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” in Gaza to end more than three months of war – echoing Beijing’s stance on the conflict since its early days.

Wang also said China called for convening a “larger-scale, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference,” and a specific timetable for implementing a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Though it is unclear how much sway China has in the region to play a strong role backing such an effort, an independent state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel, is consistent with Beijing’s long-standing foreign policy; it was one of the first countries to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state in the late 1980s and has long advocated for a two-state solution.

However, analysts say, the conflict also presents an opportunity for Xi as he maneuvers to position China as an alternative international leader to the United States, in particular for the Global South – and fan perceptions that American policies have disrupted global stability.

“So much (global) frustration and anger has shifted to the conflict in Gaza … and that’s where China scores points for trying to position itself as a diplomatic force for good,” said Alex Gabeuv, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.

“When it comes to the Gaza war, the bulk of Global South countries are strongly, strongly opposed to what Israel is doing … that’s a conflict where portraying yourself as an agent for peace and a negotiated solution yields you much more sympathy (in the Global South) … unlike the Ukrainian war, where most of the countries are sitting on the fence and it’s only the West that’s so united,” he said.

Peace summit

Whether Beijing has an interest in joining a growing number of countries – including those from the Global South – willing to sit down at the table with Ukraine and hear its peace conditions will be tested at an upcoming peace summit, announced Monday.

The meeting, which Switzerland said it would host on an undisclosed date at Zelensky’s request, is expected to draw world leaders to discuss how to end the conflict as it nears entering its third year. Zelensky portrayed it as an event “where all countries that respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity are welcome to attend.”

When asked whether an invitation had been extended to Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry earlier this week sidestepped a direct reply, saying China’s position “is centered on promoting talks for peace” and supported “any efforts for peace.”

Analysts say it’s unlikely that will translate into high-level attendance at talks where Ukraine’s views, but not Russia’s, would be the starting point.

Russia has not been represented in any of the four closed-door international peace talks that have taken place so far, though its participation would be needed for a peace agreement. Of those three, China only attended one hosted by its increasingly close strategic partner, Saudi Arabia.

Beijing views Moscow as a key partner in counterbalancing what it sees as a hostile West, and the two countries have continued to bolster security, diplomatic and economic ties since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

“As long as Russia doesn’t accept it, whatever happens at the peace conference is irrelevant. China will not support conditions that Russia opposes,” said Sun in Washington. “Any attempt to draw China into such a setting will fail because China also understands the optics of it joining such a session.”

For now, that may see China sit on the sidelines, until it feels there’s a moment for compromise between Kyiv and Moscow – an opening within which it may seek to ramp up its role.

But when it comes to how Beijing may maneuver toward brokering peace in Gaza, China likely doesn’t see itself as yet having captured the opportunity “to present itself as a conflict mediator,” according to Sun. “Therefore, more is on the way.”https://merupakan.com

Residents of Khan Younis in southern Gaza say they have faced one of the most intense nights of air strikes since the start of Israel’s offensive.

Videos showed flames light up the sky as the sounds of Israeli bombings and gunfire reverberated across the city.

Displaced families have been fleeing a local hospital as fighting closes in.

Meanwhile, medicines are being sent for Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for more aid for Palestinian civilians under a Qatar-mediated deal.

The White House says Qatar has also been overseeing “very serious, extensive discussions” about a possible new hostage release deal, which were joined by a US envoy.

“This is the loudest sound of armed clashes [between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters] that I’ve ever heard,” Yasser Zaqzouq, who has been sheltering at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis with his family, told the BBC.

“This is the first time we saw such scenes [of air strikes]. We were in terror. All the kids were screaming and crying.”

A local journalist, Tariq Dahlan, said: “There is a state of panic among the displaced people in the hospital.”

“People are running away from this area towards the West, but nobody knows where they’re going and what his fate will be.”

Israeli tanks were said to be just metres from the hospital.

A woman in southern Gaza, who did not wish to be named, said children could not sleep “because of the sounds of missiles”.

“We are living in fear and terror,” she told the BBC, adding that many of the children had begun to wet themselves out of fear.

“The air strikes were very intense and very close around my house,” another resident who lives opposite Nasser hospital, Abu Omar Al-Husseini, told the BBC.

“We fled under fire at dawn today. We carried a few blankets and walked for 5km (3.1 miles) to reach the entrance to the city of Rafah, and now we are in the street, not knowing where to go.”

On Wednesday the Jordanian army said its military field hospital in Khan Younis had been badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the area. The Jordanian army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”. http://sayurkana.com/

The UN says that the war has displaced around 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, many of whom have been forced to cram into shelters and are struggling to get basic supplies.

In a joint statement, a number of UN special rapporteurs said: “Currently every single person in Gaza is hungry, a quarter of the population are starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water, and famine is imminent.”

Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, has said that the intense stage of Israel’s military operations against Hamas would “soon” wind down in the south of Gaza, including Khan Younis, where it is thought local leaders of the armed group may be hiding.

He said that the military had already switched to more targeted action in the north, where it began its ground offensive.

However, in recent days, the return of Israeli tanks to parts of the north which ground forces had previously left has led some Gazans – who had been planning to return home – to think again.

Israeli military officials have repeatedly warned that the fighting will continue for months.

Qatar now says that medicines are being flown from Doha to El-Arish in northern Egypt to be transported to Gaza, as part of a deal it brokered between Israel and Hamas.

The plan had previously been announced but was apparently held up by logistical problems.

It is not clear how exactly the medicines will be delivered to some 45 of the remaining more than 100 Israeli hostages, who are reported to be suffering from chronic diseases or in need of other life-saving drugs.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said “Qatari representatives in the Gaza Strip” would be involved and it is thought that the International Committee of the Red Cross may have a role.

The agreement is also said to involve a significant increase in medicines for Palestinians.

On Tuesday, the White House spokesman, John Kirby said Washington was “hopeful” that a new deal could soon be reached to free the hostages.

Both Qatar and Egypt, who are key mediators, have recently laid out plans that would see them released in exchange for a halt in fighting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state once the conflict in Gaza comes to an end.

In a news conference, a defiant Mr Netanyahu vowed to press on with the offensive in Gaza “until complete victory”: the destruction of Hamas and return of the remaining Israeli hostages, adding that it could take “many more months”.

With almost 25,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and 85% of the strip’s population displaced, Israel is under intense pressure to rein in its offensive and engage in meaningful talks over a sustainable end to the war.

Israel’s allies, including the US – and many of its foes – have urged a revival of the long-dormant “two-state solution”, in which a future Palestinian state would sit side-by-side with an Israeli one.

The hope in many circles is that the current crisis could force the warring parties back to diplomacy, as the only viable alternative to endless cycles of violence. But from Mr Netanyahu’s comments, his intention appears quite the opposite.

During Thursday’s news conference, he said Israel must have security control over all land west of the River Jordan, which would include the territory of any future Palestinian state.

“This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty. What to do? I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israel’s security,” he said.

Mr Netanyahu has spent much of his political career opposing Palestinian statehood, boasting just last month that he was proud to have prevented its establishment, so his latest remarks come as no surprise.

But the very public rebuttal of Washington’s diplomatic push, and determination to stay the current military course, show the chasm widening with Israel’s western allies.

Since the 7 October attacks – the worst in Israel’s history, when Hamas gunmen killed about 1,300 Israelis and took some 240 hostage – the US has supported its right to defend itself.

But as the death toll in Gaza has grown, and the scenes of horror there have abounded, Western governments have called for Israeli restraint.

The White House has repeatedly tried to influence Israel’s military policy: urging more precision-guided weapons rather than the blanket air strikes; discouraging a ground offensive; and calling for a two-state solution, with a role for the Palestinian Authority in post-conflict Gaza.

But Washington’s advice has frequently fallen on deaf ears or been met by outright rejection – often publicly so, during visits by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

That, in turn, has hardened frustration in some American circles over the Biden administration’s apparent blanket support for Israel, with strident calls to put conditions on US aid to its Middle East ally.

Responding to Mr Netanyahu’s latest comments, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said his government would not stop working towards a two-state solution, adding there would be “no reoccupation of Gaza.” http://kolechai.com/

Israel’s prime minister’s comments will please his dwindling support base and the far-right ministers who prop up his government.

But they will dismay those at home and abroad who are increasingly horrified by the human cost of this war. Recent polls show most Israelis want him to prioritise bringing the remaining hostages home over the potentially impossible aim of destroying Hamas.

Houthi forces launched a new missile attack on a US-owned vessel on Thursday, after President Joe Biden said American strikes have not deterred the militants’ campaign in the Red Sea.

The Pentagon said no damage or injuries were reported after Houthis fired two missiles at the MV Chem Ranger.

The attack followed a fifth round of US strikes in Yemen earlier on Thursday.

The White House said US forces “took out a range of Houthi missiles” that were to be fired towards the Red Sea.

Speaking after the US strikes, Mr Biden was asked by reporters in Washington DC if the attacks on Houthi targets were working.

“Well, when you say working are they stopping the Houthis? No,” he said.

“Are they gonna continue? Yes.”

US Central Command – which oversees US operations in the Middle East – said in a statement that it had “conducted strikes on two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch” on Thursday.

“US forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen” around 15:40 local time (12:40GMT) “and determined they were an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region”.

“US forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missiles in self-defense.”

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh later told reporters at a briefing: “We do not seek war.”

“We are not at war with the Houthis. Actions we are taking are defensive in nature.”

Centcom also confirmed the attempted attack on the MV Chem Ranger. Officials said two anti-ship missiles were fired at the Marshall Island-flagged, US owned ship, but both fell short of the vessel.

Yemen’s military spokesperson earlier released a statement saying that there had been “direct hits” to the ship.

A US-owned vessel was also hit on Wednesday, hours after Washington re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist organisation.

In a fiery speech on Thursday, the leader of the Houthis called it a “great honour” to be “in direct confrontation” with Israel, the US and the UK.

“The aggression against our dear people is a violation, aggression, a direct encroachment of the sovereignty of Yemen and a direct assault on the Yemeni people”, said Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

The Houthis began attacking merchant vessels in November, saying they were responding to Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Since then, the group has launched dozens of attacks on commercial tankers passing through the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. http://jusnarte.com/

In response, the US and UK launched a wave of air strikes against dozens of Houthi targets on 11 January. The strikes – supported by Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Canada – began after Houthi forces ignored an ultimatum to cease attacks in the region.

The United Nations refugee agency has said a remote British territory in the Indian Ocean, which hosts a secretive UK-US military base, is “not a suitable location” for migrants to be held long-term, after being granted rare access.

Dozens of Sri Lankan Tamils have been stranded for more than two years in a makeshift camp on Diego Garcia.

It is the first time asylum claims have been filed in the territory.

The UK government said it was looking for a “long-term solution”.

“The wellbeing and safety of migrants is the… top priority” of the British Indian Ocean Territory administration, a spokesperson added. British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot) is the islands’ official name.

UNHCR representatives visited Diego Garcia towards the end of 2023 in a trip facilitated by UK authorities. It was the first time they had been given access to the island since the migrants’ arrival more than two years ago.

The UN agency said it was “following up” with officials about what it had found.

“Diego Garcia is an island hosting a military base with virtually no civilian population, and is not a suitable location for long-term residence for this group,” a spokesperson said in a brief statement to the BBC.

“We continue to call on the UK to ensure fair and efficient determination of the pending claims, and to secure solutions for those found to be in need of international protection, in line with international law.”

• Full report: Migrants stuck in

The first group of Tamils landed on Diego Garcia in October 2021 after their boat ran into trouble while trying to sail to Canada, according to migrants and officials.

The island is located hundreds of miles from any other population, and unauthorised visitors are forbidden.

The group’s subsequent asylum claims were the first ever to be launched on Biot – an area described as being “constitutionally distinct and separate from the UK”, and where court papers say the Refugee Convention does not apply.

Many of the group claim to have links with the former Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka, who were defeated in the civil war that ended in 2009, and say they have faced persecution as a result.

Hunger strikes

Asylum seekers have described conditions on the island as hellish, but the territory’s unusual legal status has left them in limbo.

There have been multiple suicide attempts and instances of self-harm. There have also been hunger strikes, which lawyers say have involved children.

“We are living a lifeless life. I feel like I am living like a dead man,” one man told the BBC last year.

Lawyers representing asylum seekers on Diego Garcia say about 60 people remain on the island. Several people have been relocated to Rwanda for treatment following suicide attempts.

The BBC understands this arrangement is separate to the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to the east African country, which passed a significant milestone in Parliament this week..

“Our clients have been in limbo on Diego Garcia for over two years and have still not had their claims for international protection lawfully determined,” one of the group’s lawyers, Tessa Gregory, said.

“The conditions they are having to endure… are dire and entirely unsuitable for a group which includes children and survivors of torture and sexual violence.”

Ms Gregory added that UK lawyers representing the migrants were seeking access to the island.

So far, five people have had their claims for international protection approved, but no country has yet been identified to relocate them to.

The spokesperson said the government was “working with third countries to accept any who cannot be safely returned to their country of origin”. http://kueceng.com/

The government has previously told the BBC that “all allegations of mistreatment are taken seriously and fully investigated”.

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