BEIJING/CAIRO: China will host Islamist fighter group Hamas and its rivals Fatah for Palestinian unity talks, the two groups and a Beijing-based diplomat Friday said.
The development has depicted the Chinese role in Palestinian diplomacy amid the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is the group which controls Gaza and whose fighters stormed into Israeli towns on October 7.
Fatah is the movement of Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli occupied West Bank area.
The two rival Palestinian groups have failed to resolve their political disputes since Hamas fighters expelled Fatah from Gaza Strip in a short war in 2007. The United States is wary of moves to reconcile the two groups, as it supports the Palestinian Authority but has banned Hamas as a terrorist organization.
According to a Fatah official, a delegation led by the group’s senior official Azzam Al-Ahmed, had left for China. He said the movement’s team for the talks, led by senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, would be reaching China later today.
“We support strengthening the authority of the Palestinian National Authority, and support all Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and increasing solidarity through dialogue and consultation,” said Wang Wenbin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, at a regular briefing on Friday, without confirming the meeting.
The visit will be the first time a Hamas delegation is publicly known to have reached China since the start of the war in Gaza. A Chinese diplomat, Wang Kejian, met with Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas chief, in Qatar last month, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
According to the Beijing-based diplomat, the talks aimed to support efforts to reconcile the two Palestinian rival groups.
