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)

According to Egyptian intelligence, negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza will continue until the US presidential election. Israel believes that the US will develop a ‘different approach’ if Trump wins the election.

Egyptian intelligence reportedly believes that the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a prisoner swap and ceasefire agreement in Gaza could last until the US presidential election in November.

According to the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, Egyptian sources believe that the prisoner swap and ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel will not be finalised until after the US elections. According to the newspaper, which cited an unnamed source, Egyptian intelligence has submitted a report to the presidency on the ceasefire process in Gaza.

The report predicted that the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a prisoner swap and ceasefire agreement in Gaza might not last until after the US presidential elections in November, and included scenarios in which attacks on Gaza would continue until the end of the year.

The source said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that with the possibility of former US President Donald Trump returning to power, a different approach will develop in the US administration regarding the attacks on Gaza.

Commitment to end the war

On the other hand, J.D. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, said he would call on Israel to end the war in Gaza “as soon as possible”.

In an interview with Fox News, Vance argued that US President Joe Biden had allowed the war to go on too long. Joe Biden has made it harder and harder to win the war,’ Vance said, arguing that the longer the war goes on, the harder it will be for Israel and the harder it will be to achieve a sustainable peace. Vance claimed that Trump would revive the process of reaching a peace deal with Saudi Arabia and that this would be an appropriate response to Iran.

In a debate with Biden at the end of June, Trump accused Biden of acting ‘like a Palestinian’ in the conflict between Israel and Hamas and said ‘Israel must be allowed to finish the job’.

If Trump wins the presidential election, Israel seems to hope that it will be able to continue its massacres and occupation of Gaza more easily and start the negotiation process with Arab countries without imposing a two-state solution.

The negotiation process

US President Joe Biden announced on 31 May that Israel had presented a new ceasefire proposal consisting of 3 phases. Although Biden said that this proposal belonged to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that they would continue their attacks on Gaza until the “set goals” were achieved.

Netanyahu claimed in his speech to the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on 3 June that there were ‘gaps’ between Israel’s proposal and Biden’s.

In the past few days, important political events happened in Washington, Tehran, London and Paris. In current world situations, elections are not only an internal issue of a country because the results of these elections would definitely affect the future of economies, policies, and military arrangements in a larger point of view.

When it was announced that Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist president-elect of Iran, had won the presidential election, many people in different countries rushed to find his background because it was felt necessary to know about him. He is the first Iranian president who has no bear and he is very much interested in bringing reforms and to mend ties with the world community.

He is the first one who has not reached the presidency of Iran through a religious institution, although many former presidents of Iran, such as Khamenei, Khatami, Rouhani, and Raisi, have risen from that address and position.

Also, Pezeshkian did not have a position in Iran’s military and security institutions. But it doesn’t mean he doesn’t support the military institutions. He and his colleagues in the Iranian parliament, when some countries called the IRGC a terrorist organization, they put on IRGC uniforms to protest this decision and to show support to the IRGC.

Pezeshkian was born in the city of Mahabad. This city is the place that once witnessed the establishment of the Kurdish government, a government whose candle was extinguished soon.

Pezeshkian’s father is Azari and his mother is Kurdish. Many people believe that this gives him the power to understand the situation and demands of the minorities in Iran. He studied medicine and specialized in heart surgery. During the era of Mohammad Khatami, he was the Minister of Health and represented the people of Tabriz in the parliament for five terms.

The general perception was that Iran’s religious leader prefers to be a conservative and radical person like Saeed Jalili, the president of Iran. It was predicted that with Jalili’s victory, Iran’s policies will become more radical, at the same time that it seems that the presidency of the United States will go to the person who ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani; Donald Trump. However, this did not happen. Accurate reading of Iran’s policies is not an easy task, and it probably requires patience similar to the patience of those who weave the Iranian carpet.

Why did the leader of Iran allow Pezeshkian to take part in the presidential elections and finally win?

In 2021, the Guardian Council, which has the duty to consider the worthiness of the people who participate in the presidential elections, did not allow Pezeshkian to enter the presidential race.

Last February, the Guardian Council did not allow Pezeshkian to participate in the parliamentary elections, because in the opinion of this council, he did not adhere to the “principles of the revolution”.

This judgment comes from the fact that he had spoken against the opinion of the regime about popular protests. Despite this, he was able to participate in the elections with Khamenei’s intervention. The truth is that the Pezeshkian criticized the severity of the protests, especially the way the religious police dealt with Mehsa Amini, which caused her death, but at the same time, the Pezeshkian believed that the protests were harming the country.

Masoud Pezeshkian, a veteran reformist lawmaker elected as a new president of of Iran after he defeated conservative rival Saeed Jalili in a presidential runoff election.

The image presented by Pezeshkian in the past years shows him as a “conservative with reformist tendencies”.

He does not have the ability to give a passionate speech to stimulate the feelings of the masses and marginalized people, a skill that Ahmadinejad could handle well. He is a moderate person. He is a doctor who believes in science and chooses his words carefully.

Pezeshkian willing to remove sanctions and work to improve the economy

At the same time, he is a realist and aware of the system and also aware of the underbelly of power balances and knows who makes the big decisions.

He tries to open the windows to its residents under the roof that he has built. Pezeshkian has talked about the benefits of negotiating with the West so that part of the painful sanctions can be removed. Sanctions that, in his words, have made the lives of many Iranians “miserable”.

Khamenei knew very well that the participation of Pezeshkhian in election contests would force Khatami, Mehdi Karroubi, Hassan Khomeini (grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran) and Ali Akbar Natiq Nouri to support him.

Analyzes regarding Pezeshkhian reaching the presidency have been made from many angles, although everyone agrees that the major and final decision on domestic and foreign issues depends on Khamenei’s office.

Some believe that maybe the leader of Iran has come to the conclusion that the achievement of a radical person like Saeed Jalili to the presidency will increase Iran’s tension with the outside world. A tension that has been growing on a daily basis. The Iranian leader is willing to reduce the level of anxiety especially at the time when there is a common belief in the West that Iran is very close to the stage of producing nuclear weapons.

In this situation, Iran needs some de-escalation both with foreign parties and with the masses of people inside Iran, especially considering that if Trump wins the US presidential election, Iran needs to deal with a storm of events that will affect international relations. The effect will be to interact more quickly.

Also, Iran currently needs an opportunity to strengthen and digest the successes achieved by Soleimani’s advances in some regional plans.

Perhaps, the leader of Iran accepts the point that the ruling system in Iran has been more successful abroad than inside this country. But, when we look at the high statistics of poverty and unemployment and lack of development in this country, this claim seems irrational.

In addition, Iran is involved in the Gaza war and other wars in the Middle East, and the management of this complex scene requires the creation of peace inside the country.

A number of analysts are of the opinion that Khamenei preferred a non-religious person to become president so that he could not participate in the competition for the seat of the future religious leader or influence it, although this would also help to revive the role of the reformists and restore their image.

The world was full of events last week, but political atmosphere in US was interesting and painful

The world was full of events last week, but it was easier to understand other events than what happened in Iran.

The UN ended 14 years of Conservative rule. Rishi Sunak left power, and Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labor Party came to power on stage. British institutions have proven that they can function without falling apart.

Instead, the French election showed the depth of divisions in French politics and warned of tense years ahead.

These days, the scenes that were shown in the US political atmosphere were interesting and at the same time painful. Joe Biden is trying to shoulder the heavy burden of being eighty years old. He uses his memory beyond his capacity and shows disregard for the advice given to him that he should withdraw from the electoral competition due to his old age.