Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi condemned “indiscriminate attacks against civilians” after deadly Israeli strikes in Lebanon as he began his schedule of meetings at the United Nations General Assembly.
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China’s top diplomat issued a strong rebuke of Israel, whose air strikes on Monday killing at least 500 people, as he spoke with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders in New York on Monday.
“Today, Israel carried out another large-scale air strike on Lebanon, causing heavy casualties. We strongly condemn this violation of the basic norms of international relations,” he was quoted as saying in a foreign ministry statement.
“We will always stand on the side of justice and our Arab brothers, including Lebanon. We pay close attention to the development of the regional situation …[and] firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks on civilians.”
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Wang also condemned last week’s explosions of communication devices in Lebanon, which killed at least 37 people and wounded around 3,000. Israel was believed to be behind the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies that targeted Hezbollah members.