The two main Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, against which Israel is waging war in Gaza, are due to meet in Beijing on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July to try to end the differences that have set them against each other for years. This Chinese diplomatic initiative illustrates the desire to play a mediating role outside its zone and on a terrain usually under Russian and American influence.
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There China is to host senior officials from the two main movements this weekend, July 20 Palestinians Fatah and Hamas. Beijing indicated on Tuesday July 16 that it wanted to work towards ” reconciliation ” between the two rival camps. ” The aim of this meeting is to end the division by making commitments and reaching an agreement on the shape of relations between the Palestinian factions in the coming stages. ” said Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary general of the Central Committee of Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Asked by AFP, Hamas made no comment on this announcement.
For Chinese leaders, the important thing has always been to play a role in the Near East and the Middle East. This is nevertheless the first time that they have dared to truly match their privileged region.
“China plays a mediating role outside its zone,” explains Jean-Philippe Beja, sinologist, emeritus research director at the CNRS and researcher at the Center for International Studies and Research
According to sources within Fatah, the movement founded by historic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the Hamas delegation in Beijing will be led by its leader Ismail Haniyeh, based in Qatar. The Fatah delegation is to be led by the party’s vice-president Mahmoud al-Aloul.
The two movements have been irreconcilable since Hamas’ coup that ousted the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip in June 2007. This was the culmination of more than a year of political crisis and violence following Hamas’ victory in the January 2006 legislative elections. But Israel’s war in Gaza against the Islamist movement Hamas, triggered by the movement’s unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, has revived calls for talks.
If you like, on the Israeli side, obviously China will never be more important than the United States. The problem for the Americans is that they cannot discuss with Hamas. Of course, there are discussions about the release of hostages but there is no direct discussion possible while Beijing can talk with both.
According to Jean-Philippe Beja, China hopes that its privileged links with the Palestinian cause and its capacity to discuss with both camps, unlike the United States, will contribute to advancing the talks.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited power over parts of the occupied West Bank, which has been plagued by a surge in deadly violence since October 7 linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the explosion of new Israeli colonies.
Following a meeting of the two Palestinian movements end of April in BeijingChinese diplomacy had judged the exchanges encouraging. China expressed the hope of being able to push for ” intra-Palestinian reconciliation “, after overseeing and facilitating the spectacular diplomatic rapprochement of 2023 between Iran and Saudi Arabia. But a new meeting of the two delegations planned for June had been postponed, with Hamas criticizing Fatah’s refusal to participate in new exchanges.
Several attempts at reconciliation between the two movements have been made, via different mediators, still in 2022 in Algeriaso far without leading to an agreement.