China on Tuesday voiced serious concern about Israel’s plan to launch ground military operations against Rafah.

The Chinese side strongly called on Israel to heed the overwhelming calls of the international community, stop attacking Rafah, and make every effort to avoid a more serious humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said during his regular briefing.

He said that the conflict in Gaza had lasted for more than 200 days, and the humanitarian disaster it had caused so far was appalling.

“This is a test of human conscience. War and violence cannot fundamentally solve the problem and cannot bring real security. They will only intensify hatred,” he added.

While urging the international community to take action, he said that the top priority was to effectively implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728, immediately cease fire and fighting, ensure humanitarian relief, and return to the right track of a political settlement of the Palestinian issue based on the “two-state solution” as soon as possible.

According to media reports, the Israeli military said that it had taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Israel on Monday asked the Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate the area ahead of a ground offensive.