In a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki in Ramallah, Zhai said China would continue to “firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights”.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry statement, Abbas expressed his appreciation for China’s “just position on the Palestinian issue, and its long-standing valuable support to the country”.

Abbas said he expected China to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a timely and just settlement on the Palestinian issue.

Zhai also met Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen and Ronen Levi, director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, who posted details of the visit on Twitter.

“Good to host Zhai Jun, the special envoy of the Chinese government to the Middle East, during his visit to the region,” Levi wrote.

Levi said he and Zhai had “an interesting exchange” about developments in the Middle East, the Abraham Accords, and relations between their two countries.

Beijing has been fostering its engagement in the Middle East for the past decade but its role in restoring ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran took the diplomatic community by surprise.

The two countries will reopen embassies within two months, while resuming security, trade, investment, and cultural talks, in an agreement reached on March 10 after four days of secret talks during China’s “two sessions” parliamentary meetings.

Sun Degang, a Middle East affairs expert with Fudan University, told Shanghai-based media portal The Paper that China had been urging the region to engage in peace talks for some time.

“In addition to Saudi Arabia and Iran, China may next promote diplomatic mediation efforts between Israel and Palestine,” he said.

“[What] the Palestinian and Saudi-Iran issues have in common is that both conflicting sides consider China a reliable and trustworthy partner,” Sun said.

More than 150 Palestinians and over 20 Israelis were killed in the West Bank and Israel last year, the highest number of deaths in years, according to the UN. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Israel’s most hawkish leaders, returned as prime minister in late 2022.

“The Palestinian issue is different from the Saudi-Iran one, it is more conflictual and complex,” said Wang Jin, an associate professor with the Institute of Middle East Studies at China’s Northwest University.

“The two parties are much more antagonistic than they are willing to reconcile, so China is not currently in a position [to] successfully mediate or intervene,” he said.

“For now, the more important thing is that China has shown its willingness to demonstrate its position on the Palestine issue, thus giving confidence to the international community.”