China's special envoy on Middle East issues, Sun Bigan, will visit Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia from August 6, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang announced in Beijing Friday.

 

Sun will exchange views with different parties on regional issues, especially the situation in Lebanon, in a bid to help ease tensions in the region, Qin said.

 

Israel has intensified its air raids on Lebanese targets since launching a massive assault on July 12 after Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in cross-border attacks.

 

The number of casualties continues to rise.

 

On July 25, during an Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon, a UN peacekeeping post was bombed, killing four UN observers from China, Finland, Austria and Canada.

 

On July 30, over 50 Lebanese civilians, most of them women and children, were killed in an Israeli air raid on the Lebanese village Qana.

 

Israel has so far not agreed to a ceasefire in its Lebanon offensive.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2006)