A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday called for renewed negotiations to ease escalating tensions in the Gulf region and restore safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while also urging the full implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Sun Lei, charge d'affaires of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, said a memorandum of understanding signed more than a month ago was a hard-won result of mediation efforts and should be fully implemented.

"Now that the door to negotiations has been opened, it should not be closed. As long as there remains hope for peace, efforts should not be abandoned," Sun told a quarterly meeting of the UN Security Council on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

On the Red Sea, Sun said all parties should respect the navigational rights of commercial vessels under international law and jointly safeguard the security and smooth flow of international shipping routes.

He said China welcomes the easing of tensions between Lebanon and Israel, calling on all parties to cease hostilities and fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. "Israel should completely withdraw from Lebanon," he said.

The remarks came as US President Donald Trump held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday. It was their first face-to-face meeting since the United States and Israel began joint military operations against Iran on Feb 28.

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According to statements issued after the meeting, the discussions centered on Iran and its nuclear program, with both sides reiterating their opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

Turning to Gaza, Sun called for the full implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and efforts to secure a genuine and lasting ceasefire.

"Gaza is not a permanent battlefield, nor are suffering and turmoil the destiny of its people," Sun told the council.

He made the remarks as violence has continued despite the ceasefire agreement announced on Oct 10, 2025. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1,180 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the agreement was announced.

Sun said that more than nine months after the ceasefire agreement was reached, the bombardment, attacks, blockade and siege had not ended, while more than 2 million people in Gaza continued to face threats to their lives and the suffering of displacement.

He urged Israel and other parties concerned to fully implement the agreement, and called on Israel to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law, remove restrictions on humanitarian supplies entering Gaza and facilitate relief operations by the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies.

OCHA said 59 Palestinians were reported killed and more than 190 injured between July 15 and 22 alone, including people who died of their wounds and those whose bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble.

Turning to the occupied West Bank, Sun said settler violence had caused civilian casualties and damage to homes, while continued settlement expansion was "encroaching on Palestinian territory".

He said the deterioration of the situation "was partly attributable to the lack of investigations and accountability", and stressed that international law and Security Council Resolution 2334 must be observed without double standards or selective application.

"We urge Israel to immediately cease all settlement activities, take concrete measures to curb violence, and ensure serious accountability for all attacks," said Sun, adding that Israel should "return the withheld tax revenues as soon as possible and lift its unreasonable restrictions on the West Bank".

Sun said the recurring turmoil between Palestine and Israel stemmed fundamentally from the fact that only half of the two-state solution had been realized.

China supports the establishment at an early date of an independent State of Palestine with full sovereignty, based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, Sun said.