After three days of meetings in Beijing, 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Fatah movement, signed a joint declaration aimed at building Palestinian unity. According to the declaration, an ‘interim government of national unity’ will be established on the basis of the Palestinian constitution. This government will exercise jurisdiction and authority over the entire Palestinian territory, emphasising the unity of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. It will begin by unifying all Palestinian institutions, beginning the reconstruction of Gaza and preparing for general elections as soon as possible.
At the invitation of the Chinese government, 14 Palestinian national organisations met in Beijing from 21 to 23 July and signed the Beijing Declaration at the end of the meeting. The declaration calls for an end to division and the establishment of Palestinian unity.
Officials from the Palestinian organisations appeared on camera with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the closing ceremony of the meeting. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk confirmed that the Palestinian factions had signed an agreement following the negotiations. “Today we are signing a national agreement and declaring that the way to complete this process is through national unity. We are committed to national unity and we are calling for it”.
Wang Yi said that the main focus of the Beijing Declaration was ‘the establishment of a transitional government of national reconciliation to govern post-war Gaza’. Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community,” Wang Yi said.
Mostafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, one of the 14 factions that signed the agreement, told Al Jazeera that it was ‘much more advanced’ than other agreements reached in recent years. He said the four main elements of the agreement were the establishment of an interim government of national unity, the formation of a unified Palestinian leadership ahead of future elections, the free election of a new Palestinian National Council and a general declaration of unity in the face of continued Israeli aggression.
Barghouti said the move towards a unity government was particularly important because it would ‘thwart Israeli efforts to create some kind of cooperative structure against Palestinian interests’.
According to the Beijing Declaration, the Palestinian factions reportedly agreed on the following issues:
1. To unite their national efforts to confront the Zionist aggression and stop the genocide perpetrated by the occupying state and the settler gangs supported by the United States of America. It was also agreed to resist attempts to expel our people from their homeland of Palestine and to force the Zionist entity to end its occupation of the Gaza Strip and all other occupied territories, while preserving the integrity of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
2. The Palestinian factions welcomed the opinion of the International Court of Justice confirming the illegality of the Israeli presence, occupation and settlements on the territory of the State of Palestine and stressing the need for their immediate removal.
3. On the basis of the National Reconciliation Agreement signed in Cairo on 4/5/2011 and the Algiers Declaration signed on 12/10/2022, the factions agreed to pursue the implementation of the agreements to end the division with the support of Egypt, Algeria and their friends in the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, as follows
a) A commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular resolutions 181 and 2334, and to the right of return in accordance with resolution 194.
b) The right of the Palestinian people to resist and end the occupation in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and the right of peoples to self-determination and to fight for it by all available means.
c) The establishment of an interim national unity government by decision of the President (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) with the agreement of the Palestinian factions and on the basis of the current Palestinian Constitution. This government will exercise jurisdiction and authority over the entire Palestinian territory, emphasising the unity of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza. It will begin by unifying all Palestinian institutions in the areas of the Palestinian state, begin the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and prepare general elections as soon as possible under the supervision of the Central Elections Commission in accordance with the approved electoral law.
d. Pending practical steps to form the new National Council in accordance with the approved electoral law and to develop the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and to deepen the political partnership in the exercise of national responsibility, it is confirmed to activate and regulate the unified interim leadership framework for partnership in political decision-making as agreed in the Palestinian National Reconciliation Document signed on 4 May 2011.
4. To resist and prevent attempts to displace our people, especially in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, and to reaffirm the illegality of settlements and their expansion, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly and the opinion of the International Court of Justice.
5. To work for the lifting of the brutal siege on our people in Gaza and the West Bank and for the delivery of humanitarian and medical aid without any restrictions or conditions.
6. To support and reaffirm the heroic determination and brave resistance of our struggling people in Palestine to overcome the wounds and destruction caused by the criminal aggression and to rebuild what the occupation has destroyed, and to support the families of the martyrs, the wounded and all those who have lost their homes, property and livelihoods.
7. To resist the conspiracies of the occupiers and their continuous violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque and to resist any harm to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the city of Jerusalem and the Islamic and Christian holy places.
8. Honouring the martyrs of the Palestinian people and affirming its full support for the brave prisoners who are subjected to various forms of torture and oppression in the occupation prisons and camps, and giving priority to all possible efforts to liberate them from the shackles of the occupation.
In the light of this Declaration, the participants agreed on a common mechanism for the implementation of all aspects of the Declaration and decided to consider the meeting of the Secretaries General as the starting point for the immediate work of the joint national teams. It was also agreed to establish a timetable for the implementation of the Declaration.
The Palestinian factions who signed the declaration are
– The Palestine National Liberation Movement (Fatah Movement)
– The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
– The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
– The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
– Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement
– Palestinian People’s Party
– Popular Struggle Front for Palestine
– Palestinian National Initiative Movement
– Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
– Palestinian Democratic Alliance (FIDA)
– Palestine Liberation Front
– Arab Liberation Front
– Palestinian Arab Front
– Pioneers of the Popular Liberation War (As-Sa’iqa Forces)
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