Wang Yi told Israel to stop the “forced establishment” of settlements in the West Bank and reverse its actions during a face-to-face meeting with Isaac Herzog in Azerbaijan on Thursday. The Chinese foreign minister tied the warning to Gaza, saying full access there is the “immediate priority” as the “humanitarian catastrophe” continues.
Wang also called the “Palestinian question” “the greatest historical injustice of this century” and said a two-state solution is “the correct direction.” China said it is willing to work with the international community to get the parties back to dialogue and “seek a political solution to the conflict.”
Isaac Herzog in Azerbaijan
Herzog said he was “pleased” to meet Wang Yi and said the talk focused on relations between China and Israel and the situation in the Middle East. Herzog wrote that Israel seeks peace in the region and faces strategic threats, first and foremost from Iran and its terror proxies.
Wang Yi holds two meetings in Bishkek on Uzbekistan security cooperation shows how Beijing has been using similar bilateral talks to advance its regional messaging. In Azerbaijan, Wang used the same format to press Israel directly on settlements while keeping the conversation tied to the wider Middle East.
China and the Palestinian cause
China has been positioning itself as a mediator for conflicts in the Middle East, and Wang’s remarks fit that effort. Beijing brokered a deal in 2023 to restore diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after years of hostility, and earlier this year China joined Pakistan in proposing a ceasefire in the US-Israel war against Iran.
Beijing has also focused its Gaza diplomacy on Palestinian unity. In 2024, Beijing got rival Palestinian factions to agree to form an interim national reconciliation government for the occupied West Bank and Gaza after the war with Israel, although it was never implemented.
Gaza ceasefire stalled
The ceasefire in Gaza began in October 2025 after the war was triggered by a deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Progress into the deal’s next phase has stalled, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the terms of their agreement.
More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza in the year since the ceasefire started in October 2025. Wang’s warning puts China squarely into the settlement dispute while it also presses for Gaza access and renewed dialogue, but China did not spell out what concrete step it expects Israel to take next.
