Hamas, along with Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), signed a national unity declaration in Beijing on July 22, in a deal brokered by China. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul, and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian groups, said on July 23 that they had agreed to set up an “interim national reconciliation government” to govern post-war Gaza.
“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,” Abu Marzuk said after meeting Wang and the other envoys, according to Hürriyet Daily News.
This highly significant development is the fruit of many months of quiet Chinese peace efforts. The creation of a unified Palestinian front will be very difficult for Israel and its backers to ignore.
Following the signing of the “Beijing declaration,” Wang said, “The most prominent highlight is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the governance of post-war Gaza.”
“Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community,” Wang said. He added that China was keen to “play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, China proposed a three-step initiative: “The first step is to achieve comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, and ensure access to humanitarian aid and rescue on the ground. The international community should build more synergy for ending the hostilities and establishing a ceasefire.
“The second step is to make joint efforts toward post-conflict governance of Gaza under the principle of ‘Palestinians governing Palestine.’ Gaza is an inseparable, integral part of Palestine. Restarting post-conflict reconstruction as soon as possible is an urgent priority. The international community needs to support Palestinian factions in establishing an interim national consensus government and realizing effective management of Gaza and the West Bank.
“The third step is to help Palestine become a full member state of the UN and get down to implementing the two-State solution. It is important to support the convening of a broad-based, more authoritative, and more effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and road map for the two-State solution.”
As expected, the initial response of the extremist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was negative, reported Times of Israel. “Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who is a real hardliner, wrote on X, referring to the President of Palestine. “In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar.”