The talks between Fatah and Hamas are the second round of peace talks in China and in April the last talk was held, also in Beijing.
The Palestinian Authority has been divided for a long time. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, while Fatah, internationally recognized as Palestine’s legitimate representative, rules the West Bank.
Fatah is not a combatant in the war, but violence in the West Bank has escalated since the start of the war.
– The Palestinian Authority, where Fatah is the leader, has often collaborated with Israel. For that reason, they lack trust among many Palestinians, Helena Lindholm, professor of peace and development research at the University of Gothenburg, previously told SVT.
Will find a common solution
According to China, the peace talks are about finding common ground between these two groups. The talks are also seen as a prerequisite for some type of Palestinian unity and that, after the end of the Gaza war, it should be possible to arrive at how the Gaza Strip should be governed politically.
But there is another part to the talks and why they are being held in China.
– It is also important to know that this is a way for China to increase its influence and build a political role as a sort of mediator and intermediary in the Middle East, says SVT’s foreign reporter Carl Fridh Kleberg.
Important to have good relations with the Middle East
China’s role globally has grown a lot and in the Middle East the country has built a much more extensive relationship. In the past, China has not often taken on a role as a peace broker, but that has changed recently.
– China already has power in the Middle East and is happy to expand it. They have good relations with both Iran, the Arab countries and Israel. Its role is growing and so are its ambitions, not least in “the global south”. China is today the largest trading partner for 145 countries. They may not be loved, but they are present and that is what they want, says Börje Ljunggren, former ambassador and senior employee at the Foreign Policy Institute.
According to Ljunggren, there is room for China in the Middle East to act and play a role. China would like to be a prominent country with contacts around the world and in the Middle East there is a space to fill.
– The US is closely tied to Israel and then there is a space for China.