Hamas announces ‘national unity’ deal with Palestinian rivals
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (centre) with senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk (right) and Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul in Beijing, on July 23.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING - Hamas announced on July 23 it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organisations, including rivals Fatah, to work together for “national unity”, with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the war ends.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, Fatah envoy Mahmoud Al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian groups, said they had agreed to set up an “interim national reconciliation government” to govern post-war Gaza.
“Today, we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity. We are committed to national unity and we call for it,” Mr Abu Marzouk said after meeting Mr Wang and the other envoys.
The announcement comes more than nine months into a war sparked by Hamas’ October attack on southern Israel
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
The relentless fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis.
China has sought to play a mediator role in the conflict, which has been rendered even more complex due to the intense rivalry between Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which partially governs the occupied West Bank.
Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it destroys Hamas, and world powers including key Israeli backer the United States have scrambled to imagine scenarios for the governance of Gaza once the war ends.
Neither Israel nor the United States would sanction any post-war plan that includes Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Washington.
“Instead of rejecting terrorism, (Fatah leader) Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face. In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’ rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.
While it is unclear whether the deal announced in Beijing on July 23 can hold, it does indicate that the only world power that can engineer a rapprochement between the Palestinian rivals is China.
As the July 23 meeting wrapped up in Beijing, Mr Wang said the groups had committed to “reconciliation”.
“The most prominent highlight is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the governance of post-war Gaza,” Mr Wang said, after the factions signed the “Beijing declaration” in the Chinese capital.
“Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but, at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community,” Mr Wang said.
Fatah’s Mr Al-Aloul thanked China for its “unending support” for the Palestinian cause.
“To China, you have our love, you have all our friendship, from all the Palestinian people,” he said.
Notably, he did not mention whether any agreement had been reached with Hamas and the other factions.
Also present at the July 23 meeting were envoys from Egypt, Algeria and Russia, according to Mr Wang.
Egypt, which neighbours Israel and Gaza, is a key mediator in the conflict.
Algeria is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, and has drafted resolutions on the war.
And while Western powers have sought to isolate Moscow over its Ukraine invasion, China has maintained its strategic partnership with Russia.
‘Peace and stability’
China, Mr Wang said, was keen to “play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East”.
He also called for a “comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire”, as well as efforts to promote Palestinian self-governance and full recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’ resounding victory in a 2006 election.
Fatah controls the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Several reconciliation bids have failed, but calls have grown since Hamas’ October attack and the nine-month war in Gaza, with violence also soaring in the West Bank where Fatah is based.
China hosted Fatah and Hamas in April, but a meeting scheduled for June was postponed.
China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
China has positioned itself as a more neutral actor on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United States, advocating for a two-state solution while also maintaining good ties with Israel.
And it has sought to play a greater role in the Middle East in recent years, facilitating 2023’s historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran
