Palestinian factions sign deal in China to end divisions and form unity government

A senior Hamas official says the pact “represents the most appropriate national solution” in the face of “regional and international interventions”

Jul 23. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Some 15 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), signed an agreement in the Chinese capital Beijing on Tuesday to end their divisions and form a unity government, after a series of meetings in the Asian giant to address their differences.

According to information gathered by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the document was signed during a ceremony in Beijing after two days of meetings aimed at ending their divisions and strengthening their unity, although the Chinese authorities have not given further details in this regard.

However, Husam Badran, a senior official in Hamas’s political wing, has specified that “the most important points of the agreement are the formation of a Palestinian national government by consensus to manage the affairs of the population in Gaza and the West Bank, oversee reconstruction and prepare the conditions for elections.”

“This solution, in our view, represents the most appropriate national solution to the post-war Palestinian situation, as it creates an impenetrable barrier against all regional and international interventions that seek to impose actions against the interests of our people and manage Palestinian affairs after the war,” he argued.

He said the agreement “is another positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity” and reiterated his call for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, followed by a withdrawal of Israeli troops, the delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction work, as reported by the Palestinian daily ‘Filastin’, which is linked to Hamas.

Badran also praised the agreement as coming “at an important time” because “the Palestinian people are being subjected to a war of extermination, especially in the Gaza Strip,” while rejecting the validity of some drafts circulated in recent hours by various media.

Finally, he stressed that those gathered in Beijing stressed “the need to confront the occupation’s conspiracies and its violations against the holy Al Aqsa mosque and its attempts to Judaize Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.”

For his part, Musa Abu Marzouk, another senior official in the political wing of the Palestinian Islamist group, said that “an agreement for national unity has been signed.” “The path to complete the journey is national unity. We are committed to it and we ask for it to materialize,” he explained, according to the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera.

Fatah and Hamas met in Beijing in April to discuss their efforts at reconciliation after years of failed attempts to end their disputes stemming from the 2006 elections, in which the Islamist group won both in Gaza and the West Bank through its Change and Reform list.

Hamas’ victory prompted Israel and the United States to reject the results – a stance supported by the Palestinian Authority – and while the Islamist group’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, did form a government, Israeli operations following the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit and internal tensions led to an internal conflict that resulted in the expulsion of PA forces from Gaza, while the PA remains in control of the West Bank.

In this way, an administrative and territorial separation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories was established, which led to the imposition of a blockade on Gaza – supported by Egypt – and the entrenchment of Palestinian politics around two increasingly authoritarian blocs in the areas under its control, while Israel has played the division card to present a scenario in which it apparently does not have a unified interlocutor.