Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al Zahar announced on Wednesday that he plans to visit China and a number of Asian countries in the coming days.
Al Zahar stated during a press conference with China’s representative to the Palestinian Authority that China will be the first country he will visit in Asia.
"I have spoken to the ambassador, and they are ready to receive a Palestinian delegation at any given time", he added.
Zahar also said the visit will most likely take place in late May during a tour in the region to attend an international conference; he did not give any further details.
Zahar will start his tour by visiting Arab countries beginning with Egypt.
The new Hamas-led Palestinian government has already received several invitations to South Africa and Malaysia although no dates have been set.
A few hours after the new Hamas-led government was sworn in on March 29, the US ordered its diplomats and contractors to cut off contacts with the new ministers. Canada decided to suspend aid and contacts with the Palestinian Authority.
China is one of the Asian countries that have strong ties with Israel but it also supports the Palestinian calls for establishing an independent state.
In Israel, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev commented on the announcement by calling the international community to isolate the Hamas-led government.
Israel has frozen the monthly transfers of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, worth around $50 million.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya has asserted that his government could establish peace in stages with Israel if it withdraws to the 1967 borders, and recognizes the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
"We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jew” he told the Washington Post last Sunday, “We do not wish to throw them into the sea".
