Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is greeted by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang during a July 2017 visit to Beijing. Photo: Reuters/Mark Schiefelbein

Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed its “deep disappointment” with China’s failure to condemn Hamas shortly before announcing that an Israeli embassy employee had been stabbed in Beijing.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the employee was in stable condition and that the attack was being investigated. The Chinese police have arrested a suspect, who they say was a foreign worker.

An unconfirmed video on social media appears to depict the Israeli being repeatedly stabbed with a long knife.

The US embassy in China condemned the attack and noted that Hamas leaders have called for Friday to be an international “day of rage,” which has heightened security concerns worldwide, but said it was not aware of any specific threats to US citizens in China.

In a separate statement, the Israeli ministry said that Israel’s Deputy Director for Asia and the Pacific Rafi Harpaz had relayed Israel’s criticism of China’s statements and media releases to China’s Middle East envoy.

“In these messages, there is no clear and unambiguous condemnation of the terrible attack and heinous massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza,” the statement said. “There is neither an element regarding Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign state that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society.”

The statement noted that official readouts from Chinese officials in the days since Hamas’ massacre of more than 1,300 people on Saturday have included phrases like an expression of “sadness in view of the large number of civilians injured as a result of the conflict” and condemnation of “actions that harm civilians.” China has also called for an “immediate ceasefire” and has emphasized that it is “a friend to both Israel and Palestine” in questions from the media about its position.