The separate phone calls between Foreign Minister Qin Gang and the Israeli and Palestinian top diplomats come amid recent moves by Beijing to position itself as a regional mediator.Qin encouraged “steps to resume peace talks,” and said that “China is ready to provide convenience for this,” in a Monday phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Xinhua reported in a summarisation.And Qin told Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki that Beijing supports the resumption of talks as soon as possible, according to a Xinhua summary.In both calls Qin emphasized China’s push for peace talks on the basis of implementing a “two-state solution,” Xinhua said.China has been on a recent diplomatic offensive, brokering the restoration of ties in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia — rivals in a region where the United States for decades has been the main diplomatic powerbroker.Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been stalled since 2014.