[News] Palestinian factions agree to ‘national unity’ govt following China talks

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Palestinian factions agree to ‘national unity’ govt following China talks

The agreement follows a Knesset decision totally rejecting Palestinian
statehood, and comes as ceasefire efforts remain stalled due to Israel’s
position on continuing the war

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 23, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/palestinian-factions-agree-to-national-unity-govt-following-china-talks
(Photo credit: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Fatah party, and twelve other
Palestinian factions have signed a Chinese-brokered reconciliation
agreement during meetings in Beijing, which began on 21 July and ended on
23 July.

The 14 factions agreed on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian
unity,” Chinese broadcaster CCTV reported
<https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/23/china/hamas-fatah-palestinian-factions-beijing-intl-hnk/index.html>
on 23 July.

The agreement was “dedicated to the great reconciliation and unity of all
14 factions,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

“The core outcome is that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is
the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people. An agreement
has been reached on post Gaza war governance and the establishment of a
provisional national reconciliation government,” he added.

Hussam Badran, head of Hamas’ National Relations Office, said in a press
statement that the agreement was a positive step on the right path and
thanked China for its mediation efforts and support.

“The Beijing Declaration is an additional positive step on the path to
achieving Palestinian national unity,” he said, expressing his “high
appreciation for the great efforts made by China to reach this
declaration.”

“The official statement signed by the factions is clear in its contents,
and is not what has been published and circulated since yesterday,” Badran
added. “There was agreement on the Palestinian demands related to ending
the war and barbaric aggression, which are: a ceasefire, complete
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, relief, and reconstruction.”

He went on to say that the most important point of the agreement was the
idea of establishing a national consensus government “that would manage the
affairs of our people in Gaza and the West Bank, supervise reconstruction,
and prepare the conditions for elections,” adding that this was Hamas’
position since the start of the war.

According to a copy of the declaration obtained by *Al Mayadeen*
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-mayadeen-obtains-palestinian-faction-s-crucial-beijing-de>
on Monday, the factions vowed to “end the Palestinian national division”
and “unify national efforts to confront the [Israeli] aggression and stop
the genocide.”

According to the document, the Palestinian factions will implement the
agreement with support from Egypt, Algeria, China, and Russia.

It emphasizes the “commitment to the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital,” to be
implemented through UN Resolution 181 (1947 resolution on partition) and UN
Resolution 2334 (which labels Israeli settlements illegal under
international law).

The declaration also highlighted the Palestinian people’s right to
resistance, right to end the occupation, and right to self-determination,
according to *Al Mayadeen*.

A final and official statement on the Beijing meeting has yet to be
released.

Last week, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement called in
a statement for the PLO to drop its recognition
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26016>of Israel, coming as a response to
the recent Knesset vote completely rejecting the establishment of
Palestinian statehood.

The Beijing talks come as the US and Israel have been floating ideas
on a post-war
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25997>international mission involving
Arab states that would administer Gaza once the fighting comes to an end.
The initiatives exclude Hamas and involve a “reformation” of the PA.

Several resistance factions, including Hamas and the PIJ, have rejected
these initiatives and repeatedly stressed that the Palestinian people will
be the ones to decide the future of the strip and its governance.
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