China says longtime rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah sign pact to end rift, propose unity government
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Fatah, the Palestinian group that administers the Israeli-occupied West Bank, along with a dozen other Palestinian factions, has signed a declaration with its longtime rival Hamas to form an interim unity government for the Palestinian territories after the war in Gaza, Chinese state media reported Tuesday. The declaration was signed in Beijing after three days of talks.
"The core achievement is to make it clear that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, referring to the West Bank administration run by Fatah. "The most prominent highlight has been the agreement on forming an interim national reconciliation government around the post-war governance of Gaza. The strongest call is for the realization of a truly independent Palestinian nation in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions."
Previous efforts by Arab countries to reconcile Fatah and Hamas, who rule over Gaza and sparked the ongoing war in the territory with their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, have failed. The long-term standoff between the groups has weakened political aspirations for Palestinian statehood.
It was also unclear what role Hamas might play in an interim unity government, if any, as it is not part of the PLO and as both Israel and the United States have long deemed it a terrorist group.
The declaration "creates a formidable barrier against all regional and international interventions that seek to impose realities against our people's interests in managing Palestinian affairs post-war," senior Hamas official Hussam Badran told Reuters. He said a unity government would oversee reconstruction in Gaza, manage the affairs of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and prepare the conditions for elections.
The declaration appeared to be the latest attempt by Beijing to exert its growing influence in the Middle East. Last year, China brokered a peace deal between long standing rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The lack of unity has been the problem for anti-zionists since the Jewish State was founded. When Israel declared its independence if the Arab armies were united Israel would have been short lived. I don’t think this unity government will last but even if it did they are not nearly powerful enough. To end the Jewish state they have to be starved out or removed by force or some combination like a blockade or a no fly zone. I think the odds are pretty decent that when Gen Z takes power there will be enough world unity to make something like that happen.
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