As Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a conversation with his Saudi Arabian colleague said that Israel had overstepped the bounds of self-defense. According to him, China condemns any acts that harm civilians. Israel should heed the call of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and refrain from punishing the population of the Gaza Strip. Beijing made its stance known to representatives of the Arab League, as well as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. China and the U.S. have completely diverged in their assessments of the crisis. China has not condemned Hamas and said that a State of Palestine should be created, while Blinken asked Beijing to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from attacking Israel.