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According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two largest Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, expressed their “political will” to achieve reconciliation through dialogue at a round of talks in Beijing.
Lin Jian, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Tuesday that talks between the rival groups “covered many specific issues and made positive progress,” but gave no further details.
The latest attempt to reconcile the factions comes as international pressure mounts on Hamas and Israel to end the six-month war sparked by the militant Islamist group’s Oct. 7 attack.
Negotiators trying to broker a deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and an initial six-week pause in fighting are cautiously optimistic after Israel appeared to soften its stance in negotiations. Hamas is still considering the latest proposal and has not yet officially responded.
Arab states believe reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions will be important to any post-war plan for Gaza. Hamas has controlled the strip since 2007, when it ousted Fatah after an internal struggle that followed the Islamist militant group’s victory in Palestinian elections the previous year.
In February, the weak, Fatah-led Palestinian Authority government in the occupied West Bank resigned following pressure from Arab and Western states to reform the Palestinian Authority and form a technocratic government that might enjoy more credibility among Palestinians.
Arab and Palestinian officials believe the Palestinian Authority, which governs limited parts of the West Bank, must play a role in governing Gaza after the war ends. But until Hamas and Fatah resolve their long-standing differences, it is unclear how the relatively secular PA might operate in the territory it has lost – both electorally and in terms of local control – to the Islamist militant group.
Although Hamas has been severely weakened militarily by the Israeli offensive in the devastated strip, it is considered part of the Palestinian social fabric and has a political wing.
Hamas and Fatah had already held reconciliation talks in Moscow in February.
Lin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the factions “agreed to continue the course of talks to achieve the realization of Palestinian solidarity and unity soon.”
Beijing has sought in recent years to expand its political and economic influence in the Middle East – a region it depends on for energy imports – as part of President Xi Jinping’s vision for Chinese leadership in the emerging and non-aligned “Global South”. States countries.
Last March, it brokered a deal that led to Saudi Arabia and Iran restoring diplomatic ties.
But since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Beijing has not played a central role in regional diplomacy, while the United States – the dominant foreign power in the Middle East – has taken center stage.
China has been a supporter of the Palestinian cause since the era of Chairman Mao Zedong, but has also developed friendly economic ties with Israel since the 1980s.
Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, said last week that the country would “actively promote peace and stability in the Middle East and contribute to reducing tensions.”
“The only way to break the vicious circle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.” . “It is about delivering real justice for the Palestinians, effectively enforcing the two-state solution and bringing about a political solution to the legitimate security concerns of all parties involved,” Wang told Al Jazeera.
Additional reporting by Ding Wenjie in Beijing