Most people realize that the Islamic Republic of Iran provides money, equipment, training, intelligence, and diplomatic support to Gaza terror groups, as well as to Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other malicious actors.
However, people rarely understand that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) also supports terror groups — including Hamas.
Hamas emerged in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch. The PRC recognized “Palestine” in 1988, and established an Office of China to the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza in 1995, which was moved to Ramallah in 2004.
At least by 1995, Hamas had direct access to Chinese diplomats in Gaza.
Multiple sources have noted that the IDF found large caches of Chinese weapons in Gaza, along with intelligence gathering equipment, and other military supplies.
The IDF found Chinese military equipment in Hamas warehouses, including large numbers of assault rifles (QBZ assault rifles) and grenade launchers (QLZ87 automatic grenade launchers), telescopic sights for rifles and cartridges for M16s, high-end communications equipment, listening devices, tactical military radios, and sophisticated explosives.
Additionally, the IDF discovered Chinese rocket technology in one of Hamas’ laboratories.
The PRC denied it, but even if the supplies were delivered by Iran, PRC officials knew that Iran forwarded equipment to Hamas. Certainly, Iran provided funding and training to use the equipment.
Chinese military technology is also in missiles used by Iran-supported terror groups such as Hezbollah (Chinese-made C-802 anti-ship cruise missiles were used in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War), the Houthis (anti-ship ballistic missile technology), and Iraqi militia groups.
Hamas conducted combined training operations four times with 10 other Palestinian terrorist groups simulating parts of the October 7, 2023, attack on the following dates (code-named “Strong Pillar”): December 29, 2020, December 26, 2021, December 28, 2022, and finally on September 12, 2023. These drills were well-publicized.
The late Mohammed Deif was Hamas’ military wing leader; he planned and conducted the October 7 attack, also called “Al Aqsa Flood.” Deif, along with Yahya Sinwar, coordinated the training with the 10 other groups for almost four years prior to the attack
In 1996, the PLO sent Deif to China, where he studied artillery and rocketry in the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) General Armament Department’s Ordnance Engineering College, which included courses on artillery, rocketry, and explosives.
While there, Deif married two Chinese Muslims and brought them to Gaza in 2000; it is said that one of the Chinese wives opened a channel to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership to maintain CCP and Hamas communications.
One source claims that the late Ismail Haniyeh studied at Renmin University in Beijing, and, perhaps, received training on other security topics.
The Israeli name for the network of tunnels under Gaza is “Metro.” Construction of the Metro under Gaza (and into Israel and Egypt) is a massive undertaking; the tunnel network, if linked end-to-end, measures more than 350 miles. One source noted that PLA military advisors and tunnel engineers helped design and build these tunnels.
PRC Ties Before October 7
Several events might indicate that China knew about the Hamas plans to invade Israel on October 7. Prior to that date, several meetings occurred, possibly related to pre-attack discussions:
- May 8-9, 2023: A senior Iranian delegation visited China and met with the minister of the CCP’s International Liaison Department, and director of the CCP’s Central Foreign Affairs Office.
- June 13-16, 2023: Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, and issued a Joint Statement between the PRC and the “State of Palestine” on the establishment of Strategic Partnership.
- July 17, 2023: China’s ambassador to Iran, Chang Hua, met with the Secretary General of the Iranian Expediency Discernment Council.
- September 27, 2023: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left his three young adult children in China after the Asian Games. An ancient Chinese tradition of leaving your children under the care of a ruler was a pledge of loyalty (trust), and a means of protecting them.
After October 7
China has not condemned the terror attack led by Hamas and other malicious actors on October 7, 2023.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described Israel’s response to the terrorist attacks as “beyond the scope of self-defense,” and requested Israel to “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza.”
These other developments have also taken place:
- From March 1-2, 2024, 10 Palestinian factions including Hamas met in Russia.
- On March 17, 2024, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met PRC Ambassador to Qatar, Cao Xiaolin and Foreign Ministry envoy Wang Kejian in Qatar.
- On April 30, 2024, the PRC Foreign Ministry announced that Hamas and Fatah diplomats held “in-depth and candid dialogue” to promote reconciliation.
- On July 23, 2024, Minister of PRC Foreign Affairs Wang Yi participated in the Beijing Declaration on “Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity” with 14 Palestinian factions including Hamas.
PRC diplomats blame Israel for the war in Gaza at the UN and at the UN Security Council.
Internally, the PRC has allowed PRC citizens to use antisemitic tropes and flagrant anti-Israel memes to reinforce bigotry on social media and in the news media. In a highly controlled communist media environment, what state officials say or do not say reflects the CCP’s views on the conflict.
Conclusions
The US and other allies of Israel should investigate China’s support for global terror organizations and take steps against it.
China’s actions supporting terrorism are like those of Iran, Cuba, Syria, and North Korea (which are currently on the US list of regimes supporting terrorism). China should not be exempt from the terror-supporting list because of its superpower status. It is time to list China.
States whose citizens fell victim (injured, kidnapped, and murdered) to the October 7 terror attacks should take further action against China. The four countries with the most murdered civilians are Israel (1,200), France (40 deaths), Thailand (39), and the US (34).
These steps would begin to mitigate the wrong done to the October 7 victims by China’s support for Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.
Guermantes Lailari, a member of the Jewish Policy Center Board of Fellows, is a visiting research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, and a retired USAF Foreign Area Officer.
