China hosted reconciliation talks, from Saturday to Sunday, between 14 different Palestinian factions – including Hamas and Fatah – in their latest effort to resolve long standing Palestinian divisions.
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports that a two-way discussion was held between Fatah and Hamas on 20 July. This was followed on 21 July with a meeting for all the factions to resume the intra-Palestinian dialogue around reconciliation.
The New York Times reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met the Palestinian factions on Sunday, July 21 and will again on Tuesday.
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas’ electoral victory in the Palestinian last legislative election in 2006, erupting into violence, in 2007, when Hamas forcibly seized control of Gaza.
According to AFP, the Hamas delegation will be led by political chief Ismail Haniyeh, whilst Fatah’s deputy head Mahmud Alul will be heading the Ramallah delegation.
Sabri Saidam, Fatah’s central committee deputy secretary general, told media prior to the meeting that the goal is “to end the state of division with a commitment to past agreements and agreeing on a relationship between the Palestinian groups.”
The Hamas group is yet to comment on the meeting.
Lebanese media outlets citing participants in the meeting are reporting that discussions will include the possibility of expanding the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the formation of a national unity government – as well as the latest developments in the Gaza war.
This weekend’s meeting marks only the latest round of Chinese-hosted Palestinian unity talks; in April, Palestinian officials met in Beijing for reconciliation talks.
Read more
April’s round of talks were unsuccessful, offering little tangible progress. China didn’t announce the meeting until after it had taken place, and according to the official readout the main takeaway from the meetings was that both sides “agreed to continue this dialogue and strive for the early realization of Palestinian unity.”
Before the meetings in April, the groups held talks in Moscow in February.
Previous attempts at reconciliation talks have occurred infrequently over the last 17 years in Turkey, Algeria and Egypt, but they have never managed to achieve a breakthrough on the reconciliation file.
However, with reports that progress is being made on ceasefire negotiations, it is likely that the Palestinian factions will be discussing the post-war future for Palestine, and now there could be increased pressure to come out of the talks this time with something tangible.
The Washington Post has reported that both Israel and Hamas have agreed in principle to an “interim governance” plan, in which a force “drawn from a group of about 2,500 supporters of the Palestinian Authority, who have already been vetted by Israel,” would be deployed to maintain security.
However, it remains unclear how a potential unity government, or expanded PLO, that might include Hamas, would be accepted by Israel in any post-war settlement, after Israel has vowed to “crush and destroy” the group which committed the October 7 attacks.
