Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian groups sign ‘national unity’ deal in China

Several Palestinian factions, including Hamas and rival Fatah, signed a “national unity” agreement in Beijing on Tuesday, with the purpose of ending their divisions and creating a platform that they can jointly rule post-war Gaza.

“Today we signed an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity,” senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk told reporters, according to Chinese state media.

“We are committed to national unity and we call for it.”

The signing concluded three days of reconciliation dialogue between 14 Palestinian groups in the Chinese capital.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the deal as an agreement to rule the Gaza Strip together once the ongoing war ends.

“The most prominent highlight is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the governance of post-war Gaza,” he said.

“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.”

While several reconciliation bids between rival Palestinian groups have failed in the past, calls for renewed efforts have grown since the start of the war. Hamas and Fatah had previously met in China in April to discuss reconciliation efforts to put an end to 17 years of dispute.

The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority partially administers the occupied West Bank, while Hamas had been the de facto ruling power in Gaza prior to the current war.

The two forces have engaged in political rivalry for decades. After Hamas won the legislative elections in 2006, Fatah members clashed violently with the group, resulting in Hamas’s total control over the Gaza Strip.

In May, a senior Palestinian source with knowledge of Hamas policies, told MEE that Hamas was prepared to show “flexibility” about the future governance of Gaza, as long as the decision to rule the war-battered enclave is agreed upon by other Palestinian factions and is not imposed by either the US or Israel.

Reacting to the agreement’s Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the chairman of the Fatah party.

“Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face,” Katz said on X.

“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands.”

‘Inside the 10-yard line’

Israel’s devastating military campaign on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while an estimated 10,000 people are missing and buried under the rubble. The war came as an immediate response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,139 people. 

Late last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believed the aim of reaching a ceasefire after nine months of war was within sight.

“I believe we’re inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line in getting an agreement that would produce a ceasefire, get the hostages home and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability,” Blinken said at the Aspen security forum in Colorado on Friday.

“There remains some issues that need to be resolved, that need to be negotiated. We’re in the midst of doing exactly that.”

The two sides have been back and forth over a three-phased proposed outline for the agreement presented by mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt. 

The ceasefire mediators have not publicly detailed the full contents of the proposal, but the broad contours of the deal, according to previous rounds of negotiations shared with MEE, involve a six-week pause in fighting, in which Hamas will release some Israeli captives it has held since 7 October when it attacked southern Israel.

In exchange, Israel is expected to release a number of Palestinian prisoners, withdraw its troops from certain regions of the Gaza Strip and allow Palestinians to travel from the south of the territory to the north.

During the second phase, there would be a direct announcement of a permanent cessation of military operations before the remaining Israeli captives are exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners.

The final stage would see a reconstruction drive in Gaza, with Hamas demanding that it also includes a complete lifting of Israel’s 18-year blockade of the Palestinian enclave. 

Air strikes intensify

Israeli air strikes and shelling rained down on Gaza on Monday, with at least 70 Palestinians killed less than an hour after Israel ordered displaced people to leave what it had designated a “humanitarian zone”.

Israel justified its new operation, saying Palestinian fighters have been using the area to launch attacks on Israeli forces.

In a statement, it urged people to relocate from eastern Khan Younis to the west of the “adjusted humanitarian area of al-Mawasi”.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces raided the city of Tulkarm on Tuesday morning and hit it with a drone strike.

Al Jazeera reports that five people were killed in the strike, including a mother and daughter.

Ashraf Nafi, a commander in Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, was reportedly killed in the strike along with two other Palestinian armed faction commanders.

Israeli forces also shot and killed two men in Sair, in the Hebron governorate, in what it said were clashes with Palestinians.