Israel Sharply Criticizes China for Failing to Condemn Hamas Massacre

Israeli army tanks and vehicles deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on Oct. 13, 2023. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Israel rebuked China for failing to condemn the brutal killing of its citizens by Hamas and not recognizing the country’s right to defend itself in the face of terror.

Hamas’ recent assault killed more than 1,300 Israelis, as of the latest update. In its statement after the incident, China urged Israel and Palestine to remain calm while calling for a “two-state solution,” ending the conflict by establishing “an independent Palestinian state.” Beijing stopped short of condemning the attack.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now expressed “deep disappointment with the [Chinese] statements about the recent events, in which there was no clear and unequivocal condemnation” of the massacre on Israeli territory.

While speaking to the Chinese envoy to the Middle East on Thursday, Israeli ambassador Rafi Harpaz said that China’s statements did not contain any expression of Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of every sovereign nation that is attacked in a cruel manner.

“This is not the time to be neutral. There are human animals here who murder and burn babies. They tie people up and execute them. This is not the time to say we are on the fence,” a spokesperson from the Israeli foreign ministry told Epoch Israel, according to an English translation.

When Epoch Israel posited that “China has been supporting Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas for years. What do you expect from such a country? It is never neutral,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman replied: “For years we didn’t publish it or say it, and now, the time has come—they crossed the line.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli ministry announced on Friday that an Israeli employee working at the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked. The assault did not take place in the area of the embassy compound. The victim is receiving treatment from a hospital and is in stable condition. Israel is investigating the background of the attack.

A video of the incident being shared online shows a man armed with a knife stabbing the Israeli employee multiple times while the employee fights back. Bystanders can be seen maintaining their distance.

“We are shocked by today’s attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing,” U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said in an Oct. 13 post on X. “I spoke with Israel’s Ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, and have offered our full support to the Israeli Embassy and Israeli community in China.”

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China said in an X post that the stabbing incident took place in the Chaoyang District of Beijing.

“The US Embassy does not have details on the motivation of the attacker. The US Embassy is not aware of specific threats to US citizens but recommends maintaining vigilance with regard to personal security,” it said.

China’s Stance on Hamas Attack

In its Oct. 8 statement about the Hamas attack, a spokesperson from the Chinese foreign ministry said that “China is deeply concerned over the current escalation of tensions and violence between Palestine and Israel. We call on relevant parties to remain calm, exercise restraint, and immediately end the hostilities to protect civilians and avoid further deterioration of the situation.”

The ministry spokesperson called on the international community to “act with greater urgency” and said the only way to resolve the conflict is to implement a two-state solution.

During a press briefing on Oct. 9, a reporter asked Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning whether the Chinese regime considers Hamas’ act of killing and kidnapping Israeli civilians as terrorist acts.

“We are deeply concerned over the escalation of tensions and violence and saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict,” she replied.

Another reporter asked why China is not condemning Hamas’ violent acts. The spokesperson did not address the question and instead repeated that Beijing is “saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict. We oppose and condemn violence and attacks against civilians.”

The Chinese regime did not explicitly condemn Hamas for the brutal attack nor refer to these actions as terrorism in either of its official statements.

China, Palestine, and Iran

China has traditionally backed the Palestine cause. In a June meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said China supports the cause of the Palestinian people to restore their national rights and proposed a solution to resolve conflict with Israel.

In return, Mr. Abbas said the Palestinian Authority support’s the Chinese regime’s “national unification” efforts to bring Taiwan and Hong Kong under Beijing’s control.

China has also taken a greater interest in Iran, an alleged backer of Hamas.

Iran and China signed a cooperation agreement in 2021 to strengthen their economic and political alliance. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China.

In an interview with NTD, Gordan Chang, the author of “China Is Going to War,” said that “we have to look at China’s relationship with Iran because Iran has often been a proxy for Beijing. And, of course, Hamas is a proxy of Iran. So really, what we’ve got here is China fueling these brutal attacks and this invasion of Israel.”

“I’m sure Chinese weapons [will] show up on the battlefield. And, of course, it’s Chinese money that has permitted this,” he said.

Mr. Chang isn’t surprised China has not joined the international community in condemning Hamas as Beijing is supporting the terror group and is “going after Israel.”

“We can see this from Chinese propaganda, which, at best, is dispassionate; at worst, it tries to obfuscate the origins of this war,” he said. “Calling for restraint, in this circumstance, is completely inappropriate. … We have to let Israel defend itself from these horrific attacks which are continuing.”

China’s Link to Terror Outfits

China has a long history of supporting Palestine terror outfits. Starting in the 1960s, the Chinese regime began supplying large quantities of weapons and ammunition to terrorist organizations in Palestine, Epoch Israel reported.

Yasser Arafat, the former head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), is quoted by the Peking Review magazine as saying that China is the “greatest influence in supporting our revolution and strengthening our perseverance,” according to an English translation.

In 1970, George Habash, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said: “Our best friend is China. China wants Israel to be wiped off the map because as long as Israel exists, there will be no aggressive imperialist outposts on Arab land.”

In the ‘70s, Fatah, formerly known as the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, recommended members to read Mao’s “Red Book” containing the quotes of the dictator.

According to Ephraim Halevi, former head of the Mossad, Israel attempted to restrict Chinese support for its enemies. However, its efforts were not met positively by Beijing, which continued to supply arms to Hamas and Hezbollah while also arming Iran and Syria.

Hamas’ arsenal is known to have contained two Chinese-made rockets—a 107 mm rocket (Sarukh 107) with a maximum range of 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) and a WS-1E rocket (Grad missiles) with a range of about 40 kilometers (about 25 miles). Sarukh 107 was fired at Israel for the first time in 2006. It is unclear whether the rocket is still in use among Hamas. The Grad missiles were used by Hamas in 2018.

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.