Israel-Hamas war: China's Xi urges end to war, pledges aid

• Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for an international peace conference to deal with the war in Gaza
• Xi is hosting leaders and top diplomats of Arab League nations in Beijing
• Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei published a letter praising US students for protesting the Gaza war

Here is a roundup of the latest developments from the Israel-Hamas war and the wider Middle East region on Thursday, May 30.

05/30/2024May 30, 2024

Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei praises US students for protesting the Gaza war

Following protests by students in the US and other Western countries against Israel's actions in Gaza, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published a letter in support of the protests.

"Dear university students in the United States of America, this message is an expression of our empathy and solidarity with you," he wrote in the letter published on his website.

"As the page of history is turning, you are standing on the right side of it."

In the letter, the leader of the theocratic regime decries the "state terrorism and ongoing oppression" and quotes from the Muslim holy book Quran, saying "Do not oppress and do not be oppressed."

He advises the US students to "become familiar with the Quran."

The Iranian regime has brutally crushed multiple protest movements in Iran, including the uprising over the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022.

05/30/2024May 30, 2024

'Everywhere you look is a pile of trash' — UN agency

UNRWA, the UN agency in charge of aid to Palestinians, warned that people in Gaza were forced to flee to areas "lacking essential supplies & acceptable living conditions."

In an online post, UNRWA said there was "no safety" in the Gaza Strip and published photos of piled-up garbage from the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

"This is Deir al-Balah. Everywhere you look there is a pile of trash," they said, sharing pictures of mountains of garbage.

05/30/2024May 30, 2024

China's Xi calls for peace talks, pledges aid to Gaza

While meeting the leaders of Arab states in Beijing, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said his country intended to help with reconstruction in Gaza after the war ends.

Xi also promised a $3 million (€2.77 billion) donation to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that saw much of its Western funding suspended following unsubstantiated claims by Israel that its employees had taken part in the October 7 attacks.

He urged a "broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference" to address the war.

"The war should not continue indefinitely, justice should not be permanently absent," he said.

China is in favor of a two-state solution to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Beijing recognized Palestine as a state in 1988 and has urged for its acceptance as a full UN member.

Xi is hosting the heads of state of Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia as well as foreign ministers from other Arab League member-states for a five-day China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.

dj/ab (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)