By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA) - Hamas and Fatah held “intra-Palestinian reconciliation” talks in China, officials in Beijing confirmed on Tuesday.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said representatives of Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas held “consultations on advancing intra-Palestinian reconciliation and for in-depth and candid dialogue” in Beijing, state media reported.
The consultations were held at the invitation of the Chinese side, Lin said.
The two sides “fully expressed their political will to achieve reconciliation through dialogue and consultation and explored a number of specific issues, with positive progress being made,” said Lin.
Fatah ruled the occupied West Bank while Hamas was elected in the early 2000s to rule the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza which has been under bombardment by Israel since Oct. 7 last year.
“Fatah and Hamas agreed to continue this dialogue process with a view to achieving Palestinian unity at an early date,” said the Chinese spokesman.
“The two sides highly appreciate China's firm support for the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights,” Lin added.
In a first such meeting since the Oct. 7 cross-border Hamas raid and consequent Israeli war on Gaza, a Chinese Foreign Ministry envoy had met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar last month.
In a brief statement, the Foreign Ministry said Ambassador Wang Kejian met the head of Hamas’ political bureau in Doha and the two “exchanged views on the Gaza conflict and other issues.”
Israel has waged a brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.
Nearly 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 77,600 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.
More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.