China’s Wang Yi Meets Israeli President Herzog at Baku CICA Summit

Beijing is positioning itself as a diplomatic broker in the Middle East at a moment when Washington's attention is stretched, and doing so through direct, publicly critical engagement with Israel rather than quiet mediation. The language on Gaza access and West Bank settlements is unusually pointed for a Chinese readout, suggesting Beijing wants its stance visible to Global South audiences as much as to Jerusalem. The open question is whether this translates into operational leverage — humanitarian access or settlement policy — or remains declaratory positioning ahead of wider postwar diplomacy.