After years of internal conflict, 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, announced the Beijing Declaration in Beijing. This declaration aims to resolve their longstanding divisions. China’s role in mediating these talks was pivotal to this achievement.
During a regular briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that, at China’s invitation, senior representatives from 14 Palestinian factions held reconciliation talks in Beijing from the 21st to the 23rd. “This morning, each faction signed the Beijing Declaration on Ending Divisions and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity,” she said. She evaluated that “it brings precious hope for the Palestinian people who have suffered for too long.”
She also explained, “The declaration stresses the need to hold, under the auspices of the UN, an international conference with a full mandate and broad-based participation from the region and beyond.” She further noted that “parties believe that the Beijing talks demonstrated a positive and constructive spirit, and agree to realize national unity among all factions under the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people..”
She continued that the declaration “reaffirms commitment to establishing an independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital city based on relevant UN resolutions and ensuring the integrity of Palestinian territory including the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza. Parties are ready to, in line with the consensus of Palestinian factions and the existing basic law of Palestine, establish an interim national reconciliation government, carry out reconstruction in Gaza, and prepare and hold a general election as soon as possible under the adopted election laws.”
Mao also explained that the Beijing Declaration agreed to create a new national committee based on the passed electoral law and to activate a temporary unified leadership framework for making political decisions together.
On the same day, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also met with representatives from the 14 factions, expressing a positive stance on the reconciliation talks. He noted, “The most important consensus of the talks is to achieve reconciliation and unity among all 14 factions, the most central outcome is the reaffirmation of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, the most outstanding highlight is the consensus on post-conflict governance in Gaza and forming an interim national reconciliation government, and the strongest aspiration is to realize true independent statehood of Palestine under relevant UN resolutions,” evaluating that the dialogue yielded significant results.
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