Hamas yesterday announced that it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organizations, including Fatah, to work together for “national unity,” with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the war ends.
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), who hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud 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,” Abu Marzuk said after meeting Wang and the other envoys.
Photo: AP
A joint statement issued after the talks gave no details on how or when the government would be formed, saying only it would be done “by agreement among the factions.”
According to the joint statement, the two groups are committed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
The announcement comes more than nine months into a war sparked by Hamas’ October attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Israeli figures. 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.
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.
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,” he said following the signing of the “Beijing declaration” by the factions 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,” he said.
China is keen to “play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East,” Wang said.
Beijing 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, Wang said.
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 the Hamas October attack and nine-month war in Gaza, with violence also soaring in the West Bank where Fatah is based.
Meanwhile, Israel slammed Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’ Fatah party for signing the agreement with Hamas.
“Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war. Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face,” Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz wrote on X.
“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’ rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar,” he wrote.
Additional reporting by AP
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