ANKARA

China on Wednesday called for a stop to attacks on civilian ships and urged the relevant parties to avoid adding fuel to the fire in the Red Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, expressing deep concerns over the recent escalation of tension in the Red Sea, said it's an important international trade route for goods and energy.

Wang said Beijing has been in close communication with various parties and working actively to end the tension in the Red Sea.

China urges relevant parties to avoid adding fuel to the fire in the Red Sea and jointly safeguard the safety of the Red Sea shipping route in accordance with the law, he told reporters during a regular press briefing.

Wang added that tension in the Red Sea is a manifestation of the spillover of the Gaza conflict and now the priority is to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible to avoid further escalation and prevent the situation from getting out of control.

“We believe that the Security Council has never authorized the use of force by any country on Yemen and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen and other coastal countries of the Red Sea need to be earnestly respected,” he said while apparently referring to the recent US and UK airstrikes.

The US and British forces said they conducted the strikes Monday against eight Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the group’s attacks in the Red Sea.

Following the strikes, Yemen's Houthis vowed to retaliate as Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said: "These assaults won't go unpunished."

Tensions have escalated in the Red Sea amid Houthi attacks on commercial ships suspected of having links with Israel.

The Houthis say their attacks aim to pressure Israel to halt its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, killing more than 25,700 people. About 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while more than half of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid