Israel must immediately halt its military operation in Gaza, says China

China on Tuesday said Israel must "immediately" halt its military operation in Gaza and prevent a humanitarian crisis on a larger scale, Anadolu news agency has reported. 

"It has been over 700 days since the conflict in Gaza broke out, which has killed 64,000 people there and caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.

China, he added, opposes and condemns any action that harms civilians, damages civilian facilities, and violates international law.

Israel has issued expulsion orders for nearly one million Palestinian residents of Gaza City ahead of a planned ground offensive to occupy the famine-stricken city.

The toll of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since October 2023 has risen to 64,605, according to the Palestinian health ministry. At least 163,319 others have been wounded during that time, it added. 

Over the past 24 hours, at least 83 people, including 14 aid seekers, were killed and 223 were wounded, the ministry said. That brings the number of aid seekers killed by Israeli forces to 2,444 in total.