China Oversees ‘Reconciliation’ Of Palestine Factions Ahead Of Statehood (Worthy News Focus)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIJING/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – China became involved in the future of Israel on Tuesday as it announced that more than a dozen Palestinian factions agreed on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity” in Beijing.
The agreement signed by 14 groups, including rivals Hamas and Fatah, will lead to a government that is needed for the establishment of a globally recognized Palestinian state.
Yet the involvement of Hamas, deemed a terrorist organization by Israel, was due to raise international concerns. While Fatah, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, is effectively ruling Judea and Samaria, known as the West Bank, Hamas was governing Gaza before war broke out with Israel.
Yet China, an ally of Russia and pushing to take its place in the Middle East, hailed the agreement as a step forward toward a two-state solution in what friends and foes of Israel view as the Holy Land.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the agreement was “dedicated to the great reconciliation and unity of all 14 factions.”
“The core outcome is that the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) is the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people,” Wang said. The minister added that “an agreement has been reached on post-Gaza war governance and the establishment of a provisional national reconciliation government.”
Yet, as Beijing sought to present itself as a potential peace broker in the ongoing armed conflict, Israeli and other commentators were quick to question Hamas’ role in the arrangement.
HAMAS DESTRUCTION?
The Israeli government has made clear it seeks the destruction of Hamas ahead of the establishment of a globally recognized Palestinian state.
Israel claims that nearly half of the roughly 39,000 war-related deaths in Gaza reported by the Hamas-run health ministry are Hamas fighters.
Yet with Israel’s military pressure on Hamas mounting, Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk said his group signed a national unity declaration with other Palestinian groups, including rivals Fatah, while on a visit to China.
“Today, we sign an agreement for national unity, and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity. We are committed to national unity, and we call for it,” Abu Marzuk confirmed.
The declaration did not set out a timeframe for forming a new government.
However, it came just hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that a cease-fire deal with Hamas would free dozens of hostages in Gaza could be taking shape.
Netanyahu is in Washington, where he was to address the U.S. Congress in a widely anticipated speech on the future of the world’s most turbulent regions.
And with powers such as China now looking over his shoulders, his words were expected to be closely watched in Being and many other world capitals.
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