China said Thursday it was “deeply disappointed” by the United States’ decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“China is deeply disappointed in the United States’ obstruction of the Security Council’s adoption of a draft resolution on the Palestinian issue,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, calling on the Security Council to “play its role in reaching a ceasefire and stopping the war”.
For 12 days, Israel has carried out a withering bombardment of the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the killing of 1,400 people who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death in shock cross-border attacks launched by Hamas on October 7.
More than 3,470 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli air strikes, according to health officials.
Gazans combed through the debris of the devastated hospital, collecting the bodies of the dead in the battered enclave Wednesday, hours after a strike killed hundreds sheltering at the facility.
Alongside rows of charred vehicles, volunteers recovered corpses and limbs that were placed in body bags, while the remains of others were covered in white shrouds and blankets.
“This is a massacre,” Ahmed Tafesh, who assisted in the recovery effort, told AFP, saying he had collected the eyes, arms, legs and heads of the deceased.
“I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
