Beijing appears to be positioning itself as a regional mediator following its achievement of brokering a peace agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, it was reported that China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts that his country is ready to help facilitate peace talks. In separate calls to the two diplomats, Mr Qin encouraged steps to resume talks on the basis of implementing a two-state solution. While the intention is appreciated and it is good to see this issue getting even more international attention with Beijing throwing its hat in the ring as mediator, this is a significantly more complex challenge given the historical context and baggage surrounding the conflict, and the heavy structural and power imbalance at play.
Urging the two sides to show “political courage” and take steps to resume peace talks, Mr Qin expressed concerns about the escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine. This has of course been prompted by the clashes at the al-Aqsa mosque where Israeli forces raided the mosque during the Holy Month of Ramazan.
China has been on a recent diplomatic offensive, brokering the restoration of ties in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia—two rivals in a region where the US has been the main diplomatic broker for decades. From an international relations perspective, China’s maneuvers make for a fascinating case study. At the same time, without diminishing Beijing’s diplomatic achievement, it would be safe to say that this matter is a very different beast.
Peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since 2014 and the two-state solution has been killed way before that owing to rampant displacement of Palestinians through the creation of settlements. To implement the two-state solution that Beijing and most other countries cite, it will have to be made viable once again. That of course would be a Sisyphean task given all that has taken place since the signing of the Oslo Agreement and would require the rolling back of decades worth of oppression and injustice.
The dynamics of this conflict are incomparable to the examples of Iran and Saudi Arabia, or Ukraine and Russia. This is a case of occupation and marginalisation, that has at many points of history been enabled by key international powers. Therefore, finding a solution that is acceptable and factors in the power imbalance in this conflict will require a lot more than just an appeal to bilateral, regional and global interests, as has been the case in many other instances.