Palestinian Factions Sign Unity Deal in Beijing

30 Jul 2024

Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah signed a declaration in Beijing this week in which they agreed to end division and strengthen national unity alongside a dozen other factions, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

The 14 signatories agreed to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the “sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people” and vowed to establish an interim government that will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza, according to a Tuesday statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The PLO is a coalition of several Palestinian political groups, of which Fatah is the largest.

The latest declaration follows a Beijing-brokered dialogue held between Hamas and Fatah in April.

“China sincerely hopes that Palestinian factions will achieve reconciliation and, on that basis, realize independent statehood at an early date,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after three days of talks, according to the statement.

Wang proposed a three-step plan to resolve the conflict, which entails achieving an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, followed by post-conflict governance of the area under the principle of “Palestinians governing Palestine,” and then helping Palestine become a full member state of the United Nations, the statement said.

Beijing also reiterated its backing for the two-state solution — establishing an independent state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel — at the meeting, calling it the “fundamental way out of the conflict.”

It also came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pays a visit to the U.S. and is expected to address Congress on Wednesday. The Hamas-Israel war that broke out in October has dragged on for over nine months and killed or injured over 120,000 Gazans as of June, according to UN figures.

U.N. Secretary–General Antonio Guterres welcomed the signing of the declaration, calling it an “an important step towards furthering Palestinian unity,” according to Tuesday article from UN News.

At a ceremony to close the talks on Tuesday, the heads of the Hamas and the Fatah delegations stated their “readiness to implement the consensus, strengthen unity among factions, advance the reconciliation process, and work for an early solution to the question of Palestine,” the Chinese foreign ministry statement said.

Fatah, established in the 1950s, has had ties with China since early in its history. Hamas has been the de facto ruler of the Gaza Strip since 2007, when the two groups fought a brief civil war following Hamas’ victory in 2006 legislative elections. The war ended with Fatah being forced out of Gaza.

Since then, the two sides have engaged in repeated attempts at reconciliation, with several negotiated joint agreements.

In recent years, China has grown more proactive as a mediator in Middle East conflicts, including a deal sealed in Beijing between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore bilateral relations.

Na Qing contributed to the story.