China to host Fatah, Hamas reconciliation talks

The groups’ representatives are to meet with Chinese officials in the Chinese capital on July 20 and July 21, Deputy Secretary-General of Fatah’s Central Committee, Sabri Saidam said on Monday.

Hamas’ delegation is to be headed by the movement’s Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, while the Fatah delegation will be led by deputy head Mahmoud al-Aloul.

Fatah and Hamas have been at odds ever since the latter scored a landslide victory in Palestinian elections in 2006. Hamas governs the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has set up offices in the occupied West Bank.

The factions agreed in April 2014 to end their grievances and reconcile. The move drew Israeli officials’ ire, and the Tel Aviv regime responded by suspending the so-called “peace” talks with the Palestinian Authority, which is led by Fatah.

Following the agreement, the two sides formed a unity government, which Fatah unilaterally dissolved in June 2015, claiming that it was “weak,” and that Hamas would not “allow it to work in Gaza.”

The goal pursued by the Beijing meeting, Saidam said, “is to end the state of division with a commitment to past agreements and agreeing on a relationship between the Palestinian groups in the next stage.”

Another Fatah executive member also said a joint Fatah-Hamas meeting could be held in Beijing before the official agenda starts.

China hosted Fatah and Hamas in April, but a meeting scheduled for June was postponed.