By Ahmed Asmar
ANKARA (AA) – A China-mediated agreement to heal the years-long rift between Palestinian factions and form a national unity government has been met with Palestinian praise and Israeli opposition.
The Palestinian groups on Monday reached a reconciliation agreement following three days of intensive talks in the Chinese capital Beijing to end their political division since 2007.
Representatives of 14 Palestinian groups, including the rival Fatah and Hamas movements, signed a new statement pledging to end the division and strengthen unity.
The agreement aims at maintaining Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip following the end of Israel’s ongoing offensive on the enclave.
Signatories of the agreement said they would form an interim national unity government to supervise the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip and hold new elections.
"The Beijing declaration is an additional positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity," Husam Badran, a member of Hamas political bureau, said in a statement.
He said the factions agreed to form a national unity government to supervise Gaza reconstruction and prepare the conditions for holding elections.
- Immediate steps
Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, said the Palestinian factions will take ‘immediate” steps to implement the agreement to heal their rift.
“The factions will immediately begin implementing the reconciliation agreement with practical steps,” he told Anadolu.
Barghouti said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also Fatah’s leader, will start consultations with all groups to form an interim national unity government.
"Time is running out. Israel is working to liquidate and destroy the Palestinian issue, and the Palestinians have no choice but to end the division,” he added.
Signatories of the agreement reiterated their commitment to establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with UN resolutions.
The agreement also underlined the right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation and to self-determination based on international laws and UN Charter.
Mousa Abu Marzouk, head of Hamas delegation to the Beijing talks, told Anadolu that the discussions were held in a “positive atmosphere to achieve national unity among all Palestinian factions.”
“All factions stand united against Israel’s war of extermination against the Gaza Strip,” he said, adding that the Palestinian factions agreed to set a timeline for implementing the agreement.
- Israeli opposition
Israel, for its part, rejected any Palestinian agreement aimed at maintaining control over the Gaza Strip following Tel Aviv’s ongoing war.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Tel Aviv will not allow a joint control of Gaza by Hamas and Fatah.
“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas's rule will be crushed,” Katz said in a statement on X.
“Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel's security will remain solely in Israel's hands,” he added.
Israel opposes any return of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to Gaza and has vowed an end to Hamas’ rule in the seaside enclave.
The Beijing agreement was not the first to have been reached by Hamas and Fatah since their rift in 2007.
Similar rounds of reconciliation talks were held in the past years in Türkiye, Algeria, Russia and Egypt, but all failed to make a breakthrough in the Palestinian reconciliation file.
The Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been politically divided since June 2007 due to sharp disagreements between Fatah and Hamas.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, one year after winning the 2006 legislative elections, while Fatah has ruled over the West Bank.
The Beijing agreement came as Israel continued its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 39,100 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023 following a Hamas attack.
Over nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara