China brokers agreement between Palestinian factions

by Viruben
Jul 23, 2024

In a landmark diplomatic achievement, China has brokered an agreement to form an interim “national reconciliation government” with 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas.

The agreement would see the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) acting as the sole representative for the Palestinian people and marked significant agreement between the parties on the need for a ceasefire, the urgent need for relief, reconstruction and a withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. CNN notes it remains unclear what role Hamas, which is not a part of the PLO, would play under this proposed arrangement.

Israel’s Foreign Minister has slammed the agreement posting on X, formerly known as Twitter:

Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war. Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face. In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas's rule will be crushed, and Abbas… pic.twitter.com/JZMqeMqH5J

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 23, 2024

 

Managing editor of Al-Ahram, Ashraf Abouelhoul, told Reuters that: 

"Forming a unity government with Hamas is rejected by the United States, Israel, and Britain. There is a consensus among those countries to exclude Hamas from any role in the day after the war".

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Millier stressed that the US would not support a role for Hamas in the post-war governance of Gaza. “When it comes to governance of Gaza at the end of the conflict, there can’t be a role for a terrorist organization,” he stated. Instead, he insisted that the US wanted to see the Palestinian Authority governing “a unified Gaza and the West Bank”.

Following the declaration, Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi stated that "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".

He further detailed a three-step plan to address the Gaza war: promote a permanent ceasefire; uphold the right of Palestinians to self-governance; and achieve a two state-solution as well as granting Palestine full UN membership.

Analysts are wary however that this declaration will not be a panacea. Tahani Mustafa, senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group noted that the declaration did not address the major issues and that the Palestinian Authority president, and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas has been reluctant “to relinquish in any way his monopoly on power”.

China has increasingly taken a greater role in the Middle East and last year had brokered a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Read more here and here.

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The genre of war epic makes its grand re-entry to Tamil cinema with director Rajkumar Periasamy’s sophomore feature film, ‘Amaran.’ As is often the case with this genre, one cannot help but feel the events of the ‘true story’ onscreen have been heavily modified for easy consumption.

 

 

 

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un_spcial

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