HAMAS HAS ANNOUNCED it has 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 govern Gaza together once the war ends.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian political groups, said they had agreed to set up an “interim national reconciliation government” to govern the Gaza strip once the current conflict has ended.
“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.
The text of the deal outlines plans for “a temporary national unity government by agreement of the Palestinian factions” which would “exercise its authority and powers over all Palestinian territories”. That means the Gaza Strip as well the West Bank, including Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
The announcement comes more than nine months into the latest Israeli-Palestinian war sparked by Hamas’s October attack on southern Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory war on the Gaza Strip has now killed more than 39,000 people, mostly civilians, according to data from the territory’s health ministry.
The siege, bombardment and invasion has left Gaza in a severe humanitarian crisis, with the population facing hunger, disease, displacement and a lack of clean drinking water.
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, the dominant party in the Palestinian Authority, which partially governs the occupied West Bank.
Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it completely destroys Hamas, something its own military has said is not possible.
Much of the pressure on the the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is down to the apparent lack of a “post-war plan”, which ostensibly led to the resignation from the temporary war cabinet of his political rival Benny Gantz last month.
As today’s meeting wrapped up in Beijing, 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,” Wang 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,” Wang said.
Hamas says it has signed an agreement in Beijing to work with other Palestinian groups towards “national unity”. Chinese officials said the factions, including Fatah, had agreed to set up an interim reconciliation gov't for post-war Gaza. pic.twitter.com/vlzgaabCUs
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 23, 2024
China, he added, was keen to “play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East”.
Beijing, Wang said, 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’s 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-led October attack and 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.
Israel’s minister for foreign affairs, Israel Katz, has reacted angrily to the news of the agreement, taking aim at Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
“Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face,” he wrote on X.
“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly scuppered ceasefire deals with Hamas, saying that he would not halt the war on Gaza until the organisation is completely destroyed.
But Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari recently said that total destruction of Hamas was not possible.
“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” Hagari told Israeli news station Channel 13 in an interview in June.
“Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people — anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong,” he said.
With reporting from AFP
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