UN Secretary-General welcomes agreement between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas
In response to questions at his regular daily press briefing in New York, United Nations Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said António Guterres “very much welcomes the signing of the Beijing Declaration by the Palestinian factions”, adding that it is “an important step towards promoting Palestinian unity”.
Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it forced Fatah out of the enclave after winning a majority in elections last year. Fatah rules the West Bank and previous attempts to end the fighting between the factions have proved elusive.
The new Chinese-sponsored deal, known as the Beijing Declaration, involves 14 different Palestinian groups, and a joint statement from Fatah and Hamas announcing the deal, as a prelude to a new unity government, reportedly gave no timetable or details on implementation.
Call for more dialogue
“The Secretary-General encourages all parties to overcome their differences through dialogue and urges them to implement the commitments made in Beijing and the Declaration they signed,” Mr. Dujarric said.
“We have seen this before, we have talked about it before, and I think every step towards unity is welcome and encouraged. Palestinian unity, as we have said many times, is vital to peace and security and to advancing the aspirations of the Palestinian people for self-determination and for a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian State,” he added.
Mr. Guterres expressed appreciation for China’s diplomatic efforts “as well as the efforts of other countries involved in facilitating this process.”
Two states
The United Nations is committed to working towards a comprehensive two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with secure, recognized borders based on the pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions and international law.
The United States and other Western nations have refused to recognize any Palestinian government that includes Hamas without explicit recognition of the State of Israel. The United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations officially list Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas as its main war objective in Gaza and has so far said it will not relinquish control of the enclave or allow the current Palestinian Authority to become its ruling power.
