support for Palestinian military groups. The PRC cut off support for Palestinian military groups and supported the Camp David Accords in 1978. The PRC still supported the Palestinians and it strongly supported the November 15, 1988, Palestinian Declaration of Independence by Yasser Arafat in Algiers, Algeria despite the objections by both Israel and the United States. The PRC recognised the new State of Palestine on 20 November 1988 and had established full diplomatic relations with it by the end of 1989. China has assigned formal diplomatic staff to Palestine since 1990. Initially diplomatic affairs were conducted through the Chinese embassy in Tunisia. In December 1995, China has established a foreign office located in the Gaza Strip that acted as a de facto embassy and liaison office to the Palestinian Liberation Organization; however, the Ambassador to Tunisia continued to act as the main diplomatic officer to Palestine until 2008. In May 2004, the office, officially named Office of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine, was moved to Ramallah. The director of the office is accorded ambassadorial ranks in the Chinese foreign service. Contemporary relations After Mao, the PRC has continued to support the Palestinian cause albeit in a more limited fashion. Under Deng's successors, the PRC has continued its relations with both Israel and the Arab States. Under Chinese leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, China has supported the Middle East peace process and the Oslo Accords in principle. Yasser Arafat visited China on 14 occasions. His successor Mahmoud Abbas has also visited China on multiple occasions. After the victory of Hamas, a Palestinian military group that favored the restoration of historical Palestine in the 2006 Palestinian elections, China refused to call the group a terrorist organization and called them elected representatives of the Palestinian People. This statement was clarified by the PRC Foreign Ministry in January 2006. The PRC invited the Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar to attend the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in June 2006 ignoring protests by both the United States and Israel but received praise from Mahmoud Abbas. After the 2008-2009 Gaza War, PRC Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang urged both parties to solve disputes through dialogue and denounces the use of military force in solving conflicts. After the May 31, 2010 Gaza flotilla raid the PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu strongly condemned Israel and urged Israel to seriously implement the UN Security