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Beijing said on Tuesday (July 23) that Palestinian rivals including Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a unity government at talks hosted by China, a deal aimed at establishing a post-war Gaza government, but Israel, which seeks to crush Hamas, quickly rejected the deal.
Analysts say the deal, for which no timetable has been announced, will be difficult to implement because of deep hostility among Palestinian factions and Western opposition to Hamas’s involvement in governance.
It is reported that the Beijing Declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of the 14-faction Palestinian reconciliation dialogue held in the Chinese capital from July 21 to 23.
The meeting is the latest attempt to heal the Palestinian national divide after failed mediation efforts since the Islamist group Hamas seized Gaza in a brief civil war with Fatah in 2007.
The meeting took place as mediators try to reach a ceasefire agreement after nine months of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. One of the sticking points is the “Day Two” plan – how the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip will be governed after the war that began on October 7 ends.
Hamas welcomed the declaration, saying it “creates a barrier against all attempts at regional and international interference to impose reality on the interests of our people.”
But there was no immediate comment from the Fatah movement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is led by President Mahmoud Abbas. In March, Abbas appointed a new Palestinian Authority (PA) government headed by one of his allies, Mohammed Mustafa.
Israel objected, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz telling X TV that Abbas was embracing “murderers and rapists from Hamas” instead of “rejecting terrorism.”
“In reality, this will not happen because Hamas rule will be destroyed and Abbas will watch Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will be entirely in Israeli hands,” Katz said.
Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the West even before October 7, has previously indicated that it may be reluctant to participate in post-war governance in Gaza and seek a deal with Fatah on a post-war Palestinian Authority technocratic government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his goal is to destroy the Iran-backed militant group Hamas and oppose its involvement in the post-war Gaza government.
Netanyahu’s right-wing government rejects Palestinian demands for an independent state and opposes the return of a reformed Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza – an idea backed by the United States and its Arab allies.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the most salient highlight of the agreement was the plan to form an interim national reconciliation government around post-war governance of Gaza and the West Bank.
Senior Hamas official Hussam Badran said the unity government would also oversee reconstruction and prepare conditions for elections.
Ashraf Abu Elhoul, an expert on Palestinian affairs and editor-in-chief of Egypt’s state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, said similar statements had not been implemented before and nothing would happen without US approval.
“The United States, Israel and Britain are all against forming a unity government with Hamas. These countries have reached a consensus that Hamas will no longer play any role after the war,” Abu Elhoul said.
He dismissed the Chinese meeting as “a celebration” and said it was “impossible to resolve the issues between Palestinian factions within three days.”
Still, the agreement is a further sign of Beijing’s growing influence in the Middle East, where it brokered a breakthrough peace deal last year between long-time regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In recent months, Chinese officials have stepped up their advocacy for Palestine in international forums, calling for a larger Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a specific timetable for implementing a two-state solution.
Read more by Euractiv
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