NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed a new agreement, facilitated by China, and signed Tuesday in Beijing by Hamas and Fatah that is aimed at ending years of political rivalry as the Israeli war in Gaza grinds on. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told the regular news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York that the secretary-general “very much welcomes the signing of the Beijing Declaration by the Palestinian factions”, adding that it was “an important step towards furthering Palestinian unity.”
(Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 when it forced Fatah out of the enclave after winning a majority of votes in an election the previous year. Fatah governs in the West Bank and previous attempts to end the faction fighting have proved elusive.)
The new accord known as the Beijing Declaration involved 14 different Palestinian groups, and a joint statement from Fatah and Hamas announcing the deal, as a prelude to a new unified government, reportedly provides no timetable or details on implementation. “The Secretary-General encourages all factions to overcome their differences through dialogue and urges them to follow up on the commitments that were made in Beijing and the Declaration they signed on to”, Dujarric said.
“We’ve seen this before, we’ve talked about it before, and I think all steps towards unity are to be welcomed and encouraged. Palestinian unity, as we’ve said many a time, is crucial for peace and security and for advancing the aspirations of the Palestinian people for self-determination and for a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian State”, he added. –Agencies
