China confirmed on Tuesday its readiness to facilitate “reconciliation between Palestinian parties,” after reports of an upcoming meeting in Beijing between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas announced in a statement that it will participate in an “expanded factional meeting” to be held in the Chinese capital at the end of the week.
A statement by the movement’s political bureau member, Hossam Badran, said, “The movement dealt with this call in a positive spirit and with national responsibility, in order to achieve national unity.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said his country “supports all Palestinian parties in the goal of achieving reconciliation and unity through dialogue and negotiation,” noting that Beijing “is willing… to provide opportunities” to achieve this goal.
The Hamas delegation will be headed by the head of the political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, while the Fatah delegation will be headed by the movement’s deputy head, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, according to Fatah sources.
Commenting on the announcement, the spokesman stressed that China will release “information in a timely manner.”
Division has prevailed in the Palestinian arena since Hamas forcibly took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and many attempts made in many capitals to achieve reconciliation between the two parties have failed.
But the war in the Gaza Strip, which broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel, revived calls for dialogue.
Beijing hosted a meeting between Fatah and Hamas in April when another meeting was agreed upon in June before being postponed, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed hope at the time that it could push for “reconciliation between the Palestinians.”
Source: Arabic
