PALESTINIAN FACTIONS SIGN UNITY AGREEMENT IN CHINA – Factions sign declaration in Beijing
Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a unity agreement on Tuesday in China to form a national unity government.
The accord was signed in Beijing after a two-day forum overseen by China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. The talks included 12 other smaller Palestinian factions along with the two main rivals.
The talks in Beijing were aimed at creating a possible roadmap for a postwar Gaza once a ceasefire is reached between Israel and Hamas that would end the nine-month war in Gaza. The war was sparked by the October 7 terror attack on southern Israel by Hamas fighters who killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.
Fatah dominates the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank and has signed interim peace accords with Israel, while Hamas refuses to officially recognize the Jewish state.
The two sides violently split when Hamas fighters drove out Fatah forces out of Gaza in 2007 and seized control of the coastal enclave.
The accord also represents China’s growing influence in the Middle East, after having brokered a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.