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Hamas announces 'national unity' deal with Palestinian rivals
[GEO.TV] Hamas announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organisations including rivals Fatah to work together for "national unity", with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the war ends.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian groups, said they had agreed to set up an "interim national reconciliation government" to govern post-war Gaza.

"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 said after meeting Wang and the other envoys.
Courtesy of Thing From Snowy Mountain, CNBC’s take:
  • Hamas and Fatah have been bitter enemies ever since the bloody 2006-2007 civil war in the Gaza Strip.

  • But this is far from the first time the rival groups have signed reconciliation pacts, only to return to hostilities due to persistent disagreements.

  • The development is significant for China, which has increasingly moved to expand its role in international diplomacy.

Chinese state media hailed the agreement, saying it was signed by 14 Palestinian factions, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called it a “historic moment for the cause of Palestine’s liberation.”

But this is far from the first time that Hamas and Fatah have signed reconciliation pacts, only to return to hostilities due to persisting disagreements.

“Before everyone gets excited and files a batch of stories about China as the Middle East’s new diplomatic power: a reminder that, since 2006, Hamas and Fatah also signed reconciliation agreements in Algiers, Cairo, Doha, Mecca and Sana’a, none of which actually reconciled them,” Gregg Carlstrom, author of the book “How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat From Within,” wrote in a post on X.

While statements following the talks highlighted the signatories’ consensus on building an interim unity government that would be established with China’s support, long-time observers of the region noted that meetings and declarations will not determine success for the diplomatic efforts.

“Since 2007, there have been numerous rounds of negotiation and even provisional agreements aimed at reconciliation but they have all failed,” Taufiq Rahim, principal at 2040 Advisory and author of “Middle East in Crisis & Conflict: A Primer,” told CNBC.

“The devil is not in the details but the implementation,” he said. “Given the many uncertainties on the ground and the upcoming US elections the deal could be upended easily.”

China has increasingly moved to expand its role in international diplomacy, making world headlines in March of 2023 when it helped broker a historic normalization agreement between then-adversaries Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Fred 2024-07-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=704533