Xi for quick end to Israel-Hamas rift

BEIJING, Oct 19 (Reuters/AP): China wants the Israel-Hamas war to be stopped as soon as possible, President Xi Jingping was quoted by Chinese state media as saying on Thursday, adding Beijing was willing to work with Arab governments for a lasting solution to the conflict.
Xi also said a ceasefire was "imperative" as soon as possible to prevent the conflict from expanding, or spiralling out of control, the state media said.
Xi was speaking after meeting Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who was the only senior delegate from the Middle East to attend China's infrastructure Belt and Road Forum this week.
China supports Egypt's efforts to let in humanitarian aid to Gaza, state media quoted Xi as telling Madbouly. The Chinese president's remarks are among the first he has made about the conflict which erupted after Hamas launched an assault on Israel on Oct 7, triggering a major military assault on Gaza.
Egypt and the United States agreed on Wednesday to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip "in a sustainable manner" through Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Evidence shows Hamas likely used some
N Korean weapons in attack on Israel
Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their Oct. 7 assault on Israel, a militant video and weapons seized by Israel show, despite Pyongyang's denials that it sells arms to the militant group.
The video was analyzed by two experts on North Korean arms. Along with an Associated Press analysis of weapons captured on the battlefield and South Korean military intelligence, the video indicates that Hamas used the F-7 rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-fired weapon that fighters typically use against armored vehicles.
The evidence shines a light on the murky world of the illicit arms shipments that sanction-battered North Korea uses as a way to fund its arms programs.
Rocket-propelled grenade launchers fire a single warhead and can be quickly reloaded, making them valuable weapons for guerrilla forces in running skirmishes with heavy vehicles. The F-7 has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a weapons expert who works as the director of the consultancy Armament Research Services.
"North Korea has long supported Palestinian militant groups, and North Korean arms have previously been documented amongst interdicted supplies," Jenzen-Jones told The Associated Press.
Israel will let Egypt deliver
some aid to Gaza
Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The first crack in a punishing 10-day siege on the territory came one day after a blast at a hospital killed hundreds and put immense strain on Gaza's struggling medical system.
The announcement to allow water, food and other supplies happened as fury over the blast at Gaza City's al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and as U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region.
There were conflicting claims of who was behind the explosion on Tuesday night, but protests flared quickly as many Arab leaders said Israel was responsible.