Title: Chinese Foreign Ministry: Over 1,000 Chinese Citizens Have Left Israel

The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, stated today, Friday, that "more than 1,000 Chinese citizens have left Israel amidst the ongoing conflict between it and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)." In a press conference, Mao Ning said, "According to initial statistics, Chinese citizens who left Israel have either returned to their homeland or traveled to a third country." She added, "280 Chinese were stranded in the city of Sderot, southern Israel, near Gaza, when the conflict initially broke out, but they have all been evacuated." Chinese state media reported on Thursday that President Xi Jinping expressed that "Beijing wants to stop the war between Israel and Hamas as soon as possible," adding that "China is willing to work with Arab governments to reach a permanent solution to the conflict."