BEIJING: Various Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration in China on Tuesday morning, agreeing to end their divisions and strengthen Palestinian unity, Chinese state media reported.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that the declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of reconciliation talks between the factions held in Beijing from July 21 to 23.
A total of 14 Palestinian factions, including leaders of rival groups Fatah and Hamas, also met with the media, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in attendance, CGTN said in a social media post.
Rival factions Hamas and Fatah met in China in April to discuss reconciliation efforts to end the 17-year conflict.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed the agreement reached by 14 Palestinian factions to establish an “interim national reconciliation government” to govern Gaza after the war.
Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah met in Beijing this week in a renewed push for reconciliation.
After Tuesday's meeting ended, China's top diplomat said the groups were committed to “reconciliation.”
“The most prominent feature is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the post-war governance of Gaza,” Wang said after the factions signed the “Beijing Declaration” in the Chinese capital.
“Reconciliation is an internal matter of the Palestinian factions, but at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community,” Wang said.
He added, China is “willing to play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters drove Fatah out of the Gaza Strip following deadly clashes following Hamas's spectacular victory in the 2006 elections.
The Islamist Hamas movement has been ruling Gaza since taking control of it in 2007.
The secularist Fatah movement controls the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control over the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
