Palestinian factions meet in China, sign “Beijing Declaration” (translated version included)
At the China-Arab Cooperation Committee on May 30, President Xi Jinping called for a peace conference focused on ending the war in Gaza and solving the Israel-Palestinian peace process. In following up to this statement, China again hosted two competing Palestinian factions - Hamas and Fatah - for reconciliation talks. Beijing facilitated a first round of discussions in April 2024 with the hopes of building a floor underneath the competing parties while fighting between Hamas and Israel rages in Gaza. China reported some progress and a general consent for future negotiations.
The historic gap and strategic rivalry between Fatah and Hamas has deepened over the past few years as the two contend for future leadership of the Palestinian Authority. China has celebrated this new pathway as timely given progress in ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
The representative Palestinian parties signed a joint agreement pathway toward unification. This agreement is a preliminary statement of purpose, but is only the first step in a process which will almost certainly be filled with political posturing, factional divisions, and attempts to outmaneuver other parties. China has welcomed the use of its good offices, but will likely not deploy any form of coercion or force to keep the parties at the negotiation table. In other words, if Palestinians want reconciliation, they will have to bring it to fruition. China is only there to facilitate the process.
English Translation of Beijing Declaration on Palestinian Unity (see below)
Beijing Declaration to End the Division and Strengthen Palestinian National Unity
“At the kind invitation of the People's Republic of China to the Palestinian factions, an important round of Palestinian dialogues was held in the capital, Beijing, with the aim of unifying the Palestinian position to confront the war of genocide and Israeli aggression and ending the division in a way that achieves the aspirations of the Palestinian people for national unity, freedom and national independence.
The participants expressed their high appreciation for the sincere efforts made by the People's Republic of China, based on its support for the rights of the Palestinian people and its keenness to end the division and unify the Palestinian position. They stressed the empowerment of the Arab brothers and our friends in the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation to continue international efforts to hold a fully empowered international conference to end the Israeli occupation and implement relevant international resolutions that are fair to the rights of the Palestinian people under the umbrella and sponsorship of the United Nations, with broad international and regional participation, as an alternative to the unilateral and biased American sponsorship.
In light of the war of extermination and criminal Zionist aggression that our people are being subjected to, the Palestinian factions affirm the positive, constructive spirit that prevailed in the meeting, and they agreed to reach a comprehensive Palestinian national unity that includes all Palestinian forces and factions within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian factions salute the steadfastness of our people, their valiant resistance and their heroic epic in the face of the genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has strengthened the status of the Palestinian cause and foiled the attempt to liquidate it. They also salute all the forces, countries, student, popular and union solidarity movements that support the struggle of the Palestinian people on the ground, politically, legally and diplomatically.
The factions affirm their firm rejection of all forms of guardianship and attempts to deprive the Palestinian people of their right to represent themselves or confiscate their independent national decision.
The attendees agreed on the following points:
1- Unifying national efforts to confront the Zionist aggression and stop the war of genocide carried out by the occupying state and its settler gangs with the support and participation of the United States of America, and resisting attempts to displace our people from their homeland, Palestine, and to force the Zionist entity to end its occupation of the Gaza Strip and all other occupied territories and to adhere to the unity of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
2- The Palestinian factions welcome the opinion of the International Court of Justice, which confirmed the illegitimacy of the Israeli presence, occupation and settlement on the land of the State of Palestine and the necessity of removing it as soon as possible.
3- Based on the National Accord Agreement signed in Cairo on 5/4/2011 and the Algiers Declaration signed on 10/12/2022, continuing to follow up on the implementation of the agreements to end the division with the help of our sisters Egypt and Algeria and our friends in the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, as follows:
A) Commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions, especially resolutions 181 and 2334, and ensuring the right of return in accordance with resolution 194.
b) The right of the Palestinian people to resist and end the occupation in accordance with international laws and the United Nations Charter, and the right of peoples to self-determination and their struggle to achieve this in all available forms.
c) Forming a temporary national consensus government with the agreement of the Palestinian factions and by a decision of the President based on the Palestinian Basic Law in force, and for the formed government to exercise its powers and authorities over all Palestinian territories in a manner that confirms the unity of the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, provided that the government begins to unify all Palestinian institutions in the territories of the Palestinian state and begins the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and prepares for holding general elections under the supervision of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission as soon as possible in accordance with the approved elections law.
D) Until the practical steps to form the new National Council are implemented in accordance with the approved election law and in order to deepen the political partnership in bearing national responsibility and in order to develop the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the agreement was confirmed to activate and regularize the temporary unified leadership framework for partnership in political decision-making in accordance with what was agreed upon in the Palestinian National Accord Document signed on May 4, 2011.
4- Resisting and thwarting attempts to displace our people from their homeland, Palestine, especially from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank and Jerusalem, and emphasizing the illegitimacy of settlement and settlement expansion in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations and the opinion of the International Court of Justice.
5- Working to lift the brutal siege on our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and to deliver humanitarian and medical aid without restrictions or conditions.
6- Supporting and backing the heroic steadfastness of our struggling people and their valiant resistance in Palestine to overcome the wounds and destruction caused by the criminal aggression and rebuild what the occupation destroyed and support the families of the martyrs and the wounded and all those who lost their homes, properties and sources of livelihood.
7- Confronting the occupation’s conspiracies and its ongoing violations against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and resisting any harm to it, the city of Jerusalem, and its Islamic and Christian sanctities.
8- To pay tribute to the martyrs of the Palestinian people and to affirm full support for the valiant male and female prisoners in the occupation prisons and camps who are subjected to various forms of torture and oppression, and to prioritize making every possible effort to liberate them from the captivity of the occupation.
In light of this declaration, the attendees agreed on a collective mechanism to implement the provisions of the declaration in all its aspects. It was decided to consider the meeting of the Secretaries-General as a starting point for the work of the joint national teams urgently. It was also decided to set a timetable for implementing this declaration.
At the end of the meeting, the Palestinian factions expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the efforts of the People's Republic of China and its leadership to reach this important national agreement.”
The Palestinian factions gathered in Beijing are:
Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah)
Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Islamic Jihad Movement
Palestinian People's Party
Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
Palestinian National Initiative Movement
Popular Front - General Command
Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA)
Palestine Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front
Palestinian Arab Front
Vanguards of the Popular Liberation War (Sa'iqa Forces)
Selected View from Chinese Scholars on the Mediation:
Niu Xinchun, academic vice president at Ningxia University and Middle East scholar:
“The Beijing talks are closely intertwined with cease-fire negotiations mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, influencing and complementing each other. The progress of the overall cease-fire negotiations also affects the Beijing talks. From this perspective, in the pursuit of mediating Israel-Palestine peace, Beijing and Washington are not in competition, nor are they in hostile relations. Instead, they can be viewed as being in complementary cooperation.”
Yu Guoqing, researcher and doctoral supervisor at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
“The impact of the new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the security situation in the Middle East shows that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is still the core of peace and stability in the Middle East. In particular, when the Gaza conflict, which has lasted for more than half a year, will cease fire and the governance of the Gaza Strip after the war will continue to affect the Israeli-Palestinian issue and even the direction of the security situation in the Middle East. If the Israeli-Palestinian issue cannot be resolved fairly and justly, the fate of Palestine's independent statehood is uncertain, and it will become a risk of instability and insecurity in the Middle East in the future. Therefore, this round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict will accelerate the adjustment and reshaping of the security order in the Middle East, the military presence of major powers outside the region will increase, and the competition for security influence will intensify. Countries in the region will maximize their own security interests through continuous differentiation and combination, but maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East is still the general trend.”
Tang Zhichao, researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
“The United States faces the risk of being trapped in the quagmire of the Middle East again. Although facing suppression from the United States, China's influence in the region has continued to rise due to its successful mediation of the Saudi-Iranian conflict, its insistence on upholding justice and upholding justice in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and its unremitting promotion of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road " with regional countries. All of this is actually related to Biden's Middle East strategy. Especially in the face of a new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict in October 2023, the US double standards have caused the democracy, human rights, rules and so- called rules-based regional order it advocates to collapse. As former Turkish President Abdullah Gul said, "The rules-based international order has collapsed in Gaza." Compared with before Biden's visit to the Middle East in 2022, more than a year later, the US strategic situation in the Middle East has further deteriorated, and Biden's reshaping of the Middle East strategic environment has become a fantasy.”