Rivals Hamas and Fatah Sign Declaration to Form Future Govt as War Rages in Gaza

(L-R) Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP)
(L-R) Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP)
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Rivals Hamas and Fatah Sign Declaration to Form Future Govt as War Rages in Gaza

(L-R) Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP)
(L-R) Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP)

Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah agreed in Beijing to form a government together, the groups said Tuesday, in the latest attempt at resolving a longstanding rivalry and offering a potential scenario for the rule of Gaza after the war with Israel.

Previous similar declarations have failed, raising doubts about whether the China-sponsored negotiations might lead to reconciliation between Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for 17 years, and Fatah, the main force in the US-backed Palestinian Authority that administers parts of the occupied West Bank.

The two groups issued a joint statement announcing the deal but gave no details on how or when the government would be formed, saying only that it would be done "by agreement among the factions."

Both sides said the accord, which provided no guarantees, was only an initial step, and they promised to follow up on previous reconciliation agreements signed in 2011 and 2022.

Israel swiftly denounced the pact. The US and other Western countries have refused to accept any Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless it expressly recognizes Israel — a factor that has helped wreck past unity attempts, along with the factions' own competition for power.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV announced that the two sides and other, smaller Palestinian factions signed the declaration on "ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity." The agreement offered only broad outlines for how they would work together.

"There is an opportunity … but it is not big, because it lacks a specific timetable for implementation," said Hani Al-Masry, an expert on Palestinian reconciliation affairs.

The declaration comes at a sensitive time, as the war in Gaza rages into its 10th month and as Israel and Hamas are weighing an internationally backed ceasefire proposal that would wind down the war and free dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

One of the thorniest issues is the question of who will run Gaza after the war. The unity efforts are in part motivated by Palestinians' desire to offer a potential vision for postwar rule.

But Israel vehemently opposes any role for Hamas, which it vowed to destroy after the fighters’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. It also has rejected US calls for the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the fighting ends, though it has not presented a cohesive postwar vision of its own.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah has been deeply reluctant to share power with its longtime rival. Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006. The following year, amid escalating tensions, Hamas routed forces loyal to Abbas in Gaza. It has ruled the impoverished coastal enclave ever since.

During the current war, Hamas officials have said the group does not want to return to ruling Gaza and that it advocates for forming a government of technocrats to be agreed upon by the various Palestinian factions. That government would then prepare for elections in Gaza and the West Bank, with the intention of forming a unified government.

Reacting to the announcement out of China, Israel’s foreign minister said no joint governance between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza will take place "because Hamas’ rule will be crushed."

Officials from Fatah, Hamas and 12 other factions met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in talks that started Sunday, according to a post on social media platform Weibo from Chinese TV network CGTN.

In the statement, all the factions including Hamas said they were committed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Hamas, whose original charter directly called for Israel’s destruction, has said it would accept a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 war borders but refuses to officially recognize Israel.

The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, has recognized Israel and works within the framework of peace deals signed in the early 1990s. Those deals were supposed to lead to an eventual state in the West Bank and Gaza, but talks have been defunct for years, leaving the authority in charge of only isolated West Bank enclaves. Many Palestinians view the authority as corrupt, out of touch and a subcontractor for Israel because of their joint security coordination.

The unity announcement is based on widening the membership of the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization, including Hamas, said Jamal Nazzal, a Fatah spokesperson.

"It’s a long way ahead, and most of it will be implemented after a possible ceasefire," he added.

Hamas members have never been part of the PLO, the umbrella group of Palestinian factions that undergirds the Palestinian Authority. Husam Badran, a Hamas political official based in Qatar, called the agreement a further "positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity."

US President Joe Biden's administration envisions a revamped Palestinian Authority ruling postwar Gaza and has sought reforms that might make it a viable presence in the war-ravaged territory. Israel rejected that idea.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller armed group allied with Hamas, issued a statement after the talks saying it still "rejects any formula that includes recognition of Israel explicitly or implicitly" and that it demanded the withdrawal of the PLO's recognition of Israel.



Israeli Strikes Kill 14 People in Gaza, Mediators Strive for a Truce Deal

 Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 14 People in Gaza, Mediators Strive for a Truce Deal

 Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 Palestinians in three separate attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, taking the weekend death toll to 102, Palestinian medics said, as US and Arab mediators stepped up efforts to conclude a ceasefire deal.

Health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed five people in a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, while another airstrike killed four others in Jabalia in the northern edge of the enclave, where Israeli forces have been operating for three months.

Later on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit a police station in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing five people, medics said. It wasn't immediately clear if all the dead were policemen.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on Sunday's strikes.

Earlier on Sunday, the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed at least 88 Palestinians and wounded more than 200 others in the past 24 hours.

In Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, relatives and neighbors rushed to the Zuhd family's house, which was struck by an Israeli airstrike late on Saturday, killing seven people, medics said. The search continued on Sunday morning for four others believed to be trapped under the rubble.

A hand belonging to one of the dead could be seen amongst the ruins, with the rest of his body buried under collapsed masonry. Three men removed dirt with their bare hands to retrieve bodies and search for possible survivors.

"Three young men, the son’s wife, and three children are still here. We retrieved this cousin of mine. Another cousin has been martyred and is now in the hospital. Approximately 11 people have been martyred here," Ammar Zuhd, a relative, told Reuters.

ISRAEL SAYS DOZENS OF HAMAS MILITANTS KILLED

The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that its forces had attacked more than 100 targets across Gaza over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas fighters. It said it had also destroyed rocket launching sites that had been used to wage rocket attacks on Israel in recent days.

A renewed push is underway to reach a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, and return Israeli hostages who were taken to Gaza, before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Israeli negotiators were dispatched on Friday to resume talks in Doha brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, while US President Joe Biden's administration, which is helping to mediate, urged Hamas to agree to a deal.

Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible, but it was unclear how close the two sides were.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza in response to an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas fighters on communities in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military campaign, with the stated goal of eradicating Hamas, has leveled swathes of the enclave, driving most people from their homes, and has killed 45,805 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.