From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 22, 2024
Report: Palestinian factions agree to work toward unity gov’t at Beijing summit
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
At a meeting held under the auspices of Chinese authorities, Palestinian factions have reportedly agreed to work toward a unity government that includes all political factions.
The Palestinian Maan news site has published what it says is a joint statement that the factions are slated to soon release, though it is largely similar to previous communiques that pledged to work toward unity deals that were never implemented.
Fourteen Palestinian factions, chief among them Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, and the terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are being represented at the latest unity effort being brokered by China.
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters violently ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’s resounding victory in a 2006 election.
The leaked joint statement says the sides have agreed to work towards a temporary national unity government, unify institutions in the West Bank and Gaza, launch the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and prepare to hold general elections as soon as possible.
No timeline is given for when the unity government will be formed or when elections will be held, but the statement says deadlines will be set.
The statement says the factions “commit to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital” and to “guarantee the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with Resolution 194,” a UN decision from 1948.
The factions are further said to agree on the Palestinians’ right to “resist and put an end to the occupation” in accordance with international law.
Repeated reconciliation bids between Hamas and Fatah have failed, but calls have grown since October 7, with violence also soaring in the West Bank, where Fatah is based.
This year, a round of talks was held in Moscow in February, followed by another one hosted by China in April. A follow-up meeting scheduled in the Chinese capital for June was postponed to this week.
