People attend a protest calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, in Jerusalem, on Sept. 2, 2024. Rallies and a partial strike continued across Israel for the second day in a row on Monday, as the discovery of the bodies of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel over the weekend has intensified national outage. (Photo: Xinhua)

The UN Security Council on Wednesday heard a growing call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas following the killings by the latter of six hostages held in Gaza as speakers also discussed the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and escalating tensions in the West Bank.

Chinese analysts said that hope for peace is still fragile, as the US' failed diplomacy that weakened the role of the UN Security Council has enabled the killings in the Middle East.

Ambassador Geng Shuang, deputy permanent representative of China to the UN, said at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question on Wednesday that "next week will mark the 11th month of the conflict in Gaza. Despite repeated international efforts and repeated international calls for a ceasefire and an end to all hostilities, there is still no sign of easing or de-escalation." 

"This war has been raging for too long. Ceasefire negotiations have been delayed for too long. And the suffering of the population has persisted for too long time. It's time to put an end to all these," Geng said.

Reuters reported that Patience is running out among United Nations Security Council members and the 15-member body will likely consider taking action if a ceasefire cannot soon be brokered between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Slovenia's UN envoy, council president for September, said on Tuesday.

"There is a raising anxiousness in the council that it has to move one way or the other - either there is a ceasefire or that the council then reflects on what else we can do to bring the ceasefire," said Slovenia's UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar.

Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday that since the outbreak of this round of the Palestine-Israel conflict in October 2023, the international community has never stopped calling for peace and a cease-fire. But Israel can always withstand the pressure and continue the killings in the Gaza Strip. This is because the US' unconditional support has weakened the role of the UN Security Council and encouraged Israel to continue the actions.

Although US President Joe Biden has also called for peace and put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from time to time, Washington is enabling Israel's operation not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in other regional countries, said Li Xinggang, a research fellow at the Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean Rim at Zhejiang International Studies University.

Li said that "the reason why the Biden administration appears to call for a cease-fire is that Washington wants to ease the pressure from the international community and the American people that complain and protest about the US' role in this crisis."

Chinese experts are not optimistic about the future of Gaza, as the US-dominated mediation has proved to be ineffective time and time again.