Fatah and Hamas pledge to strengthen Palestinian unity after signing Beijing Declaration

Leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a declaration aimed at ending division and strengthening unity.
A total of 14 Palestinian factions are due to be represented at a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

It comes after days of talks to discuss reconciliation efforts to end around 17 years of political splits.
Tensions have been rising between Fatah and Hamas over the latter’s continued war with Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the Fatah movement, has previously criticised the Islamist group for the war, while Hamas has accused the Palestinian president of taking Israel’s side.

The two main Palestinian factions have been at odds since Hamas won legislative elections in 2006 and took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a brief civil war in which it routed the Western-backed Palestinian forces loyal to Abbas.
Efforts since 2007 by Arab countries, led by Egypt, have so far failed to end power-sharing disputes between Hamas, which runs Gaza, and the Fatah movement of Abbas, which makes the backbone of the Palestinian Authority.

More on Gaza

Related Topics:

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

Advertisement

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Source : Sky News