(Left) Mahmoud Aroul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, attended the event 2024 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse In Beijing on July 23, 2018.
Pedro Pardo | AFP | Getty Images
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have agreed to end longstanding hostilities and work to form a national unity government after talks in China, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday.
“On the morning of July 23, the closing ceremony of the reconciliation dialogue between Palestinian factions was held in Beijing. Representatives of the Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration to end division and strengthen Palestinian unity,” Chinese state media CGTN reported according to the website and reviewed by CNBC translation of the post, which was posted on local social media platform Weibo.
As state media described it, “reconciliation dialogues among Palestinians” have been taking place in Beijing since Sunday.
Hamas and Fatah have been sworn enemies since the bloody civil war in the Gaza Strip in 2006-2007, and this attempt to reunite marks a significant development. Fatah, the Palestinian party that ruled the West Bank and the Gaza enclave at the time, was violently expelled from the latter’s territories after Hamas won elections in the Gaza Strip in 2006.
Hamas has ruled the Gaza enclave since then and is currently embroiled in a brutal war with Israel. The offensive was triggered by an Oct. 7 terrorist attack led by Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis and sent 253 others hostage into the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli statistics. Palestinian armed group designated as a terrorist organization by the US and UK
In the months since, Israeli retaliatory attacks in Gaza have killed nearly 39,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health authorities.
Hossam Badran, a senior Hamas official who participated in the talks, said in a statement quoted by Reuters that the statement came at an “important moment” in Israel’s war in Gaza and that the agreement was “a step towards the realization of Palestinian national power.” Another positive step towards the agency’s goals”. Unite. “
Fatah, formally known as the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian Authority and its leading party, Fatah, rule the West Bank, the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.
On July 23, 2024, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (center) watched the signing of the “Beijing Declaration” at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. “Provisional Government of National Reconciliation”.
Pedro Pardo | AFP | Getty Images
Chinese state media welcomed the agreement, saying it was signed by 14 Palestinian factions, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called it a “historic moment for the Palestinian liberation cause.”
But this is not the first time Hamas and Fatah have signed a reconciliation agreement only to return to hostilities over ongoing differences.
“Before everyone gets excited and comes up with a series of stories about China as the new diplomatic power in the Middle East: remind everyone that since 2006, Hamas and Fatah have also been in Algiers, Cairo, Doha, Mecca and Sahara. That signed a reconciliation agreement, none of which actually reconciled them,” “How Long Can Israel Survive? Greg Carlstrom, author of Threat from Within, wrote in an article on X.
While the statement issued after the talks underscored the signatories’ agreement to establish an interim coalition government, which would be established with the support of China, long-time observers of the region noted that the meeting and statement did not determine the success of the diplomatic effort.
Taufiq Rahim, director of 2040 Advisory and author of “Crisis and Conflict in the Middle East: A Primer,” told CNBC, “Since 2007, there have been multiple rounds of negotiations and even agreements aimed at reconciliation. interim agreements, but all failed.
“The problem isn’t the details, it’s the implementation,” he said. “Given the many uncertainties on the ground and the upcoming US election, the agreement could easily be overturned.”
China is increasingly expanding its role in international diplomacy, making world headlines in March 2023 as it helped facilitate A historic normalization deal was struck between then-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.
