China Hosts Hamas & Palestinian Authority For Rare Talks
Representatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Fatah party met recently in Beijing and held talks on reconciliation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. "Representatives of the Palestine National Liberation Movement and the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] recently came to Beijing," China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
"The two sides fully expressed their political will to achieve reconciliation through dialogue and consultation, discussed many specific issues, and made positive progress," he added. The spokesman did not clarify exactly what day the meeting took place.
China, Hamas, and Fatah confirmed beginning last Friday that intra-Palestinian talks would be held in the Chinese capital.
"They agreed to continue the course of talks to achieve the realization of Palestinian solidarity and unity at an early date," Jian went on to say, adding that the two sides thanked China for efforts to "promote Palestinian internal unity and reached an agreement on further dialogue."
China has continued to call for a ceasefire and an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and has long been an advocate of Palestinian unity and a two-state solution between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar last month, where they both called for an end to the war in Gaza and the achievement of "political goals and aspirations of establishing an independent Palestinian state."
Hamas assumed leadership of Gaza in 2006 after a political victory against Fatah in local elections. The Beijing talks come as Hamas has yet to deliver an official response to a new Israeli–Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire and prisoner release deal.
While the initiative reportedly reflects an Israeli openness for the return of the displaced to northern Gaza and the establishment of a sustainable ceasefire, a Hamas official told Al-Mayadeen on Sunday that the proposal "does not reflect a fundamental shift" in Tel Aviv’s position.
Washington has been promoting the idea of a reformed PA assuming control over post-war Gaza, something Hamas has rejected.
US–Israeli efforts to "create bodies to manage Gaza is a failed conspiracy that will not come to fruition," a Hamas official said last month.