REPRESENTATIVES of 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, jointly pledged to end their differences to sign a unity deal in Beijing, China.
The unity deal, called the “Beijing Declaration” was signed after a 3-day reconciliation dialog from July 21 to 23 in Beijing following China’s invitation to intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks.
All 14 representatives agreed to form an interim national reconciliation government to administer Gaza after the end of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Fatah and Hamas are the two primary political groups in Palestine—they have been bitter rivals since the 2006 to 2007 civil war in Gaza.
Fatah controls the Palestinian authority with partial administrative control of West Bank.
Hamas, meanwhile, controls Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Beijing Declaration. Hailing it as an important step towards furthering Palestinian unity.
The gathering of Palestinian factions to sign a unity deal comes over a year after China brokered a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
