China is working hard to build a presence in the Middle East by trying to broker one of the most challenging relationships to achieve: a single, unified Palestinian government. To that end, a recent gathering in the capital city resulted in a signed joint declaration that the participants would work to achieve a unity government. Mind you, many of the signers were once sworn enemies of each other.
China Replacing US in Middle East
As the influence of the US seemingly wanes in the Middle East, it remains to be seen whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be the replacement. Nonetheless, China is losing no opportunity to insert itself in the myriad crises that have defined the Gulf region. The Israeli-Hamas conflict rages while unrest and hostilities abound in Israel’s West Bank, and war between Israel and Hezbollah in the North of Israel seems imminent. So, the PRC seized the chance to jump into the middle of the fray, inviting several Palestinian groups to Beijing to iron out an agreement and a way forward to establish a Palestinian state government. As Foreign Policy explained:
“More than a dozen Palestinian factions, including bitter rivals Fatah and Hamas, signed a joint declaration in Beijing on Tuesday vowing to form an interim unity government, although experts are skeptical that the diplomatic push brokered by China will succeed in bridging long-standing animosity between the groups . . . Chinese state media was quick to portray the declaration as a major breakthrough.”
Several real-world factors cast a pall over the ebullience the agreement has generated in China. If the Israeli defense is successful, there will be no Hamas to participate in anything. Second, as the Associated Press and others have pointed out, “Previous similar declarations have failed, raising doubts about whether the China-sponsored negotiations might lead to reconciliation between Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for 17 years, and Fatah, the main force in the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority that administers parts of the occupied West Bank.” Particularly bad for any lasting benefit from the recent “Beijing Declaration,” as the Palestinian group agreement is called, is that “Israel and the United States rejected the pact. The US and other Western countries have refused to accept any Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless it expressly recognizes Israel,” AP report said. […]
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