UPDATE 2 – Palestinians to form interim national government: China’s top diplomat

UPDATES WITH MORE COMMENTS BY WANG YI

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Palestinian factions Tuesday agreed to form an "interim national reconciliation" government focused on the post-war governance of Gaza, China’s foreign minister said.

Wang Yi’s announcement came after representatives from 14 groups of Palestinian factions signed Beijing Declaration after holding talks in Beijing since Sunday.

The Palestinian factions pledged to “end divisions and strengthen unity,” the declaration read.

“The key to the internal reconciliation process of the Palestinian factions is to maintain firm confidence, grasp the direction and proceed step by step,” Wang said, according to a statement released by China’s Foreign Ministry.

Wang said the “most significant highlight” of the Beijing Declaration among the Palestinian factions “is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government focused on the post-war governance of Gaza.”

“The strongest call is for the creation of a truly independent Palestinian state in accordance with relevant UN resolutions,” Wang said.

He added: “The core outcome is to make clear that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole legitimate representative of all the Palestinian people.”

Video footage released by the Chinese state media showed Wang walking along with the representatives of the Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, after their meeting in Beijing.

“Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but it cannot be achieved without international community's support,” said the top Chinese diplomat.

“On the road to promoting reconciliation, China shares the same direction and goals as the vast majority of Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang said.

Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, who attended the meeting, said: “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.”

It was the second time since April that representatives of Palestinians held talks in Beijing. And the latest announcement comes amid the Israeli war on Gaza which has resulted in the deaths of 39,090 Palestinians since Oct. 07 last year.