Palestinian factions agree to reach comprehensive national unity

Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP), the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) and the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) were among the parties to have joined the talks.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), the Palestine Democratic Union (FIDA), the Palestine Liberation Front, the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian Arab Front, and the Thunderbolt Forces also participated in the meeting.
The factions said in a statement: “The national factions agreed during their meetings in China to reach a comprehensive Palestinian national unity that includes all Palestinian forces and factions within the framework of the PLO, and to commit to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with UN resolutions, and to guarantee the right of return in accordance with Resolution 194.”
“Based on the National Accord Agreement signed in Cairo on 4 May 2011, and the Algeria Declaration signed on 12 October 2022, the factions decided to continue the implementation of the agreements to end the division with the help of Egypt, Algeria, China and Russia,” it added.
In the statement, the factions set four clauses related to the implementation of the agreements to end the division, the first of which is the commitment to establishing an independent Palestinian state. The second clause stipulates “the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation and end it in accordance with international laws and the UN Charter, and the right of the people to self-determination and struggling to achieve this by all available means.”
The third is based on “forming an interim national consensus government … so that the formed government will exercise its powers and authorities across all Palestinian territories in a way that confirms the unity of the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” according to the statement.
“The government will begin to unify all institutions across Palestinian state territories and begin the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in preparation for holding general elections under the supervision of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission as soon as possible in accordance with the approved election law,” it continued.
The fourth clause states that in order to deepen the political partnership in assuming national responsibility and in order to develop the PLO institutions, the agreement confirmed the need to activate and standardise the unified temporary leadership framework for partnership in political decision-making in accordance with what was agreed upon in the reconciliation document signed on 4 May 2011. This is until the practical steps to form the new National Council are implemented in accordance with the approved election law.
In this context, the factions in Beijing agreed to “resist and thwart attempts to displace Palestinians from their land (…), and to emphasise the illegality of settlements and settlement expansion in accordance with the Security Council and the UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion.”
As well as to “work to lift the barbaric siege on Gaza and the West Bank, and the importance of delivering humanitarian and medical aid without restrictions or conditions,” as well as “support the families of the martyrs, the wounded, and all those who lost their homes and property.”
The Palestinian arena has been suffering from political and geographical division since 2007, with Hamas and a government it formed controlling the Gaza Strip, while the West Bank is run by a government formed by the Fatah movement led by Mahmoud Abbas.