Hamas and Fatah sign declaration to form future government as war rages in Gaza

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah signed a declaration in Beijing pledging to form a government together, the groups said Tuesday, in the latest attempt to resolve their long-running rivalry.

Both sides said the deal, which offered no guarantees or timetable, was just a preliminary step. Previous such statements have failed, raising doubts about whether the Chinese-sponsored negotiations could lead to a solution between Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for the past 17 years, and Fatah, the main force in the US-backed Palestinian Authority that runs parts of the occupied West Bank.

Israel was quick to denounce the deal. The United States and other Western countries refused to accept any Palestinian government that included Hamas unless it explicitly recognized Israel — a factor that, along with the factional competition for power, helped destroy previous unity attempts.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV said the two sides and smaller Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration on “Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian Unity,” pledging to form a unity government for the Palestinian territories. The agreement offered only broad outlines of how they would work together.

“There is a chance… but it is not big because it lacks a specific timetable for implementation,” said Hani al-Masri, an expert on Palestinian reconciliation affairs.

This announcement comes at a sensitive time, as War in Gaza The civil war in Gaza continues in its tenth month, while Israel and Hamas consider the matter Internationally supported ceasefire proposal This would end the war and release dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

One thorny issue is who will run Gaza after the war – and the unity efforts are driven in part by the Palestinians’ desire to present a post-war governance scenario.

But Israel is strongly opposed to any role for Hamas, which it vowed to destroy after its attack on southern Israel on October 7. Israel has also rejected US calls for the Palestinian Authority to take over Gaza after the fighting ends, although it has not presented a coherent post-war vision of its own.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement has been deeply reluctant to share power with its longtime rival. Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006. The following year, amid rising tensions, Hamas defeated forces loyal to Abbas in Gaza. It has ruled the impoverished coastal enclave ever since.

During the current war, Hamas officials have said the movement does not want to return to governing Gaza and is calling for the formation of a government of technocrats agreed upon by the various Palestinian factions. This government is then set to prepare for elections in Gaza and the West Bank, with the goal of forming a unified government.

In response to the announcement from China, the Israeli foreign minister said that there would be no joint rule between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza “because Hamas rule would be crushed.”

The agreement also confirmed China’s Attempts to Play an Increasing Role in Middle East DiplomacyAfter successfully mediating the restoration of Saudi Arabia-Iran relations.

“China is certainly still in the process of trying to gain credibility as a global mediator,” said James Char, a researcher at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Officials from Fatah, Hamas and 12 other factions met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the end of talks that began Sunday, according to a post on the Weibo social media platform by Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.

The Palestinian factions issued a joint statement announcing the agreement but did not provide details on how or when the government would be formed, saying only that it would be “by agreement between the factions.” They said they promised to follow up on previous reconciliation agreements signed in 2011 and 2022.

In the statement, all factions, including Hamas, said they were committed to establishing a Palestinian state on the lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.

Hamas, whose original charter directly called for the destruction of Israel, has said it will accept a Palestinian state. Based on the pre-1967 war borders But it refuses to officially recognize Israel.

the Palestinian AuthorityMeanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has recognized Israel and operates within the framework of peace agreements signed in the early 1990s. These agreements were supposed to lead to a state in the West Bank and Gaza, but talks have stalled for years, leaving it in charge of only isolated pockets of the West Bank. Many Palestinians see the Authority as corrupt, out of touch and acting as a subcontractor to Israel because of joint security coordination.

Jamal Nazzal, a spokesman for the Fatah movement, said that the unity declaration is based on expanding the membership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Fatah, to include Hamas.

“The road is still long and most of it will be implemented after the possible ceasefire,” he added.

agitation The movement’s members have never been part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the umbrella group of Palestinian factions that backs the Palestinian Authority. Hussam Badran, Hamas’s political chief based in Qatar, called the agreement “another positive step toward achieving Palestinian national unity.”

US President Joe Biden’s administration Envisions a new Palestinian Authority The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was able to rule Gaza after the war, and sought to implement reforms that would give it a viable presence in the war-torn area. But Israel rejected this idea.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group allied with Hamas, issued a statement after the talks saying it still “rejects any formula that includes recognition of Israel explicitly or implicitly” and that it “demanded the withdrawal of the PLO’s recognition of Israel.”

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Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel; Wu reported from Bangkok. Abby Sewell contributed reporting from Beirut.