Hamas says China-hosted Palestinian unity talks to include ‘all factions

The Cradle, July 16, 2024 — 

Previous reports suggested talks scheduled for later this month would include only the two largest factions, Hamas and Fatah.

All Palestinian factions will attend the upcoming round of talks in Beijing to promote Palestinian unity, not just Hamas and Fatah, Sputnik reported on 16 July.

Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, announced that arrangements are underway to hold a meeting of all Palestinian factions in the Chinese capital, Beijing, at the end of this month.

Naim told Sputnik, “There are arrangements to hold a collective factional meeting at the end of this month in Beijing.”

He added that reports that a separate bilateral meeting between the Fatah and Hamas movements will be held in Beijing are “incorrect.”

Beijing hosted talks involving Fatah, Hamas, and the rest of the Palestinian factions at the end of last April.

“Representatives of Fatah and Hamas have arrived in Beijing for in-depth and candid dialogue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Lin Jian said at a press conference at the time.

She pointed out that the two sides “agreed to continue the path of talks to achieve Palestinian solidarity and unity soon.”

The second round of Palestinian dialogue was scheduled for 23 June, but it was postponed at the request of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who also leads Fatah.

The upcoming meeting in Beijing will bring together approximately 14 Palestinian factions but will focus on repairing the rift between the Hamas and Fatah movements, which are by far the largest Palestinian factions.

Israel has long sought to foster divisions between the two major Palestinian political movements in its effort to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Nationalist Fatah forms the core of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has provided security for Israel in the occupied West Bank since the signing of the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993. Islamic-oriented Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007 amid an Israeli siege and blockade.

Reconciliation between the two parties is seen as important for the sake of liberating Gaza from Israel’s ongoing war and occupation.