Palestinian factions sign declaration to end divisions after talks in China/node/2554621/middle-east
Palestinian factions sign declaration to end divisions after talks in China
Update
From left: Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Fatah, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. (AFP)
Palestinian factions sign declaration to end divisions after talks in China
Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah met in Beijing this week in a renewed bid for reconciliation
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip
Updated 23 July 2024
Reuters AFP
BEIJING: Various Palestinian factions have agreed to end their divisions and strengthen Palestinian unity by signing the Beijing Declaration on Tuesday morning in China, according to Chinese state media.
The declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in Beijing from July 21-23, state broadcaster CCTV said.
A total of 14 Palestinian factions including the leaders of rival groups Fatah and Hamas also met with the media, with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi present, CGTN said in a social media post.
Rival factions Hamas and Fatah met in China in April to discuss reconciliation efforts to end around 17 years of disputes.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi hailed the agreement by 14 Palestinian factions to set up an “interim national reconciliation government” to govern Gaza after the war.
Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah met in Beijing this week in a renewed bid for reconciliation.
As the meeting wrapped up on Tuesday, China’s top diplomat said the groups had committed to “reconciliation.”
“The most prominent highlight is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the governance of post-war Gaza,” Wang said following the signing of the “Beijing declaration” by the factions in the Chinese capital.
“Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community,” Wang said.
China, he added, was keen to “play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’s resounding victory in a 2006 election.
The Islamist Hamas movement has ruled Gaza since seizing control of it in 2007.
The secularist Fatah movement controls the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday issued a strongly worded warning against “any form of ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, while also underscoring the importance of adhering “to the bedrock of international law.”
His comments came after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a proposed takeover of Gaza under which the entire population of the enclave would be relocated to other countries.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip,” Trump said in a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We’ll own it ... We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal ... the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump added: “ We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this, and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and, frankly, bad luck.”
However, the UN secretary-general warned that “in the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse.”
Guterres said that it is “vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law (and) essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
Speaking in New York at the opening of the 2025 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, he called for a renewed commitment to ensuring Palestinians can “simply live as human beings in their own land.”
He added: “We have seen the realization of those rights steadily slip farther out of reach.
“We have seen a chilling, systematic dehumanization and demonization of an entire people.”
The UN chief described “the catalogue of destruction and unspeakable horrors” as a result of 15 months of war on Gaza, in which nearly 50,000 people have been killed, 70 percent of them women and children.
He also condemned the destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water facilities.
“The overwhelming majority of the entire population have faced displacement after displacement, hunger, and disease,” said Guterres.
“Children, out of school for over a year. A generation left homeless and traumatized.”
He said: “I welcome the ceasefire and hostage release deal. I thank the mediators — Egypt, Qatar, and the US — for the continued efforts to ensure implementation.
“Now is the time to be crystal clear about objectives going forward.”
While acknowledging the recent truce and freeing of captives held by Hamas, Guterres urged continued efforts for lasting peace.
“We must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay. We cannot go back to more death and destruction,” he said.
The UN is working tirelessly to provide humanitarian aid, he added, emphasizing the need for rapid, safe, and sustained access to those in need.
Guterres called for the international community to support the essential work of the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides services to Palestinian refugees.
He reiterated the UN’s commitment to the two-state solution as the only viable path to a lasting peace.
“A viable, sovereign Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel is the only sustainable solution for Middle East stability,” he said.
The path to this solution, Guterres said, requires tangible, irreversible progress toward ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Gaza as an integral part.
The UN chief also expressed deep concern about rising violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, particularly acts of aggression by Israeli settlers.
“As affirmed by the International Court of Justice, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory must end,” said Guterres.
He called for a halt to the violence and for those responsible to be held accountable in accordance with international law.
Additionally, he emphasized the importance of preserving the unity and integrity of occupied Palestinian territory, including efforts to rebuild Gaza after its devastation.
“International law must be respected, and accountability ensured,” Guterres said.
He also stressed the importance of supporting the Palestinian Authority to foster unity and governance, which are essential for a viable future for Palestinians.
“We must work toward preserving the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the occupied Palestinian territory and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza.
“A strong and unified Palestinian governance is crucial.
“The international community must support the Palestinian Authority to this end,” he said.
Egypt urges international community to back two-state solution after US Gaza plan
Updated 23 sec ago
The statement by the Egyptian president's office made no direct mention of Trump's proposal
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday the international community must bear its responsibility to support the implementation of a two-state solution, according to a statement by the president's office. The phone call comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said during a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the United States would take over Gaza after Palestinians were resettled elsewhere and develop it economically. The statement by the Egyptian president's office made no direct mention of Trump's proposal and it was unclear if it was discussed with Macron.
At least 40 children killed in Sudan over three days: UNICEF
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a fierce power struggle since April 2023, with the fighting intensifying this month as the army seeks to reclaim the capital
Updated 37 min 4 sec ago
AFP
UNITED NATIONS, United States: At least 40 children were killed by bombings over three days in several parts of Sudan, a UNICEF official said Wednesday, calling it a “stark” example of the threats facing young people in the war-torn country.
“Sadly, it is rare that more than a few short days go past without new reports of children being killed and injured,” Annmarie Swai, the UN children agency’s representative in Sudan, said in a statement.
She referred to strikes in the southern city of Kadugli on Monday which killed 21 children and maimed 29 others, as well as reports of at least 11 children killed in the bombing of a livestock market in El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state.
Eight more children were reportedly killed in a strike on a market near the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, Swai said.
“At least 40 children reportedly killed across just three days, in three separate areas of the country. This is a stark illustration of the devastating — and growing — threats to children in Sudan,” she said.
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a fierce power struggle since April 2023, with the fighting intensifying this month as the army seeks to reclaim the capital.
Both have been repeatedly accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.
Swai did not say which party was responsible for the deadly bombings on the 40 children.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and uprooted more than 12 million people.
The United Nations has recorded more than 900 “grave violations” against children between June and December 2024 — mainly children killed or injured in Darfur, Khartoum and Al-Jazira states.
“Children in Sudan are paying the ultimate price of the relentless fighting,” Swai said, calling for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and to cease fighting.
UAE mediates exchange of 300 Russian, Ukrainian prisoners of war
Latest release is 12th captive swap mediated by Abu Dhabi since 2024
Emirati efforts have led to the freeing of 2,883 Ukrainian and Russian prisoners
Updated 05 February 2025
Arab News
LONDON: UAE mediation efforts resulted in a new exchange of 300 prisoners of war between Ukraine and Russia this week.
On Wednesday, 150 Ukrainians and 150 Russians were exchanged between Moscow and Kyiv amid the ongoing conflict that erupted in February 2022.
Emirati mediation efforts so far have led to the release of 2,883 Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war, the Emirates News Agency reported.
This is the 12th successful mediation led by Abu Dhabi since 2024.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs commended Russia and Ukraine for their collaboration with the mediation efforts and their role in the exchange, the WAM added.
The ministry said that Abu Dhabi is committed to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine and appreciates both countries’ faith in the UAE as a trusted mediator.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted photos of the prisoners on X, adding that the 150 soldiers were captured by Russian troops in Mariupol and the Zaporizhzhia region.
Some served in air and ground forces, or the national guard, and have been in captivity for over two years, he added.
“I am grateful to everyone working to bring our people back. I thank our partners, in particular the UAE, and all those who stand with us on this path. We are working to bring everyone back,” Zelensky wrote on his X official account.
Israel’s war against Hamas has forced 1.7m Gazans to flee homes, often multiple times
Updated 05 February 2025
AP
JERUSALEM: Palestinians will mark this year the 77th anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle.
But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now faced in the Gaza Strip — particularly as President Donald Trump has suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and that the US take “ownership” of the enclave.
Palestinians refer to their 1948 expulsion as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. Some 700,000 Palestinians — a majority of the prewar population — fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment.
After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders.
Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel’s rejection of what Palestinians say is their right of return to their 1948 homes has been a core grievance in the conflict and was one of the thorniest issues in peace talks that last collapsed 15 years ago. The refugee camps have always been the main bastions of Palestinian militancy.
Now, many Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history on an even more cataclysmic scale.
All across Gaza, Palestinians in recent days have been loading up cars and donkey carts or setting out on foot to visit their destroyed homes after a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war took hold Jan. 19. The images from several rounds of mass evacuations throughout the war — and their march back north on foot — are strikingly similar to black-and-white photographs from 1948.
Mustafa Al-Gazzar, in his 80s, recalled in 2024 his family’s monthslong flight from their village in what is now central Israel to the southern city of Rafah, when he was 5. At one point they were bombed from the air, at another, they dug holes under a tree to sleep in for warmth.
Al-Gazzar, now a great-grandfather, was forced to flee again in the war, this time to a tent in Muwasi, a barren coastal area where some 450,000 Palestinians live in a squalid camp.
He said then the conditions are worse than in 1948, when the UN agency for Palestinian refugees was able to regularly provide food and other essentials.
The war in Gaza has forced some 1.7 million Palestinians — around three quarters of the territory’s population — to flee their homes, often multiple times. That is well over twice the number that fled before and during the 1948 war.
Israel has sealed its border. Egypt has only allowed a small number of Palestinians to leave, in part because it fears a mass influx of Palestinians could generate another long-term refugee crisis.
Israel has long called for the refugees of 1948 to be absorbed into host countries, saying that calls for their return are unrealistic and would endanger its existence as a Jewish-majority state. It points to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries during the turmoil following its establishment, though few of them want to return.
Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there. One UN estimate said it would take until 2040 to rebuild destroyed homes.
Yara Asi, a Palestinian professor at the University of Central Florida, says it’s “extremely difficult” to imagine the kind of international effort that would be necessary to rebuild Gaza.
