• Ernst Clasen

  Foreign Editor

It’s a private trip for Ismail Haniyeh, the top leader of Hamas. He’s heading to Beijing for talks with Fatah, the Palestinian group that controls the West Bank. The Chinese government is trying to mediate between the rival groups. They will speak with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today and Tuesday.

This is not the first time Hamas and Fatah have engaged in talks. There have been several meetings in the Middle East in recent years. But the fact that they are traveling to China to talk to each other is new. The first meeting was held in Beijing in April, but reportedly yielded no results. China hopes the Palestinians will now move closer to each other, though it is not clear what they will actually have to offer.

Reconciliation could offer a way out of the war in Gaza, which has already left nearly 40,000 people dead. The international community hopes that Fatah will resume its role in governing Gaza when the war ends. That is also the focus of negotiations for a truce. Hamas is said to be willing to allow Fatah-led Palestinian Authority security forces into Gaza, a US source said last week. New York times.

“This summit in China is very important,” says Middle East expert Brigitte Hermans, a researcher at the Center for Human Rights at Ghent University. “Previous talks have always failed. Since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007, there has been a complete rift between Hamas and Fatah. They are fighting for power in the Palestinian territories. But it is especially important now that they agree on what will happen after the war.”

Herremans says Israel does not want Hamas to remain administratively responsible for enforcing the law in Gaza. “But Fatah absolutely does not want to return to Gaza without reaching an agreement with Hamas. Then Hamas will do everything it can to undermine that.”

Observers are skeptical that a deal can be reached in Beijing. But the participants are taking the talks seriously. “Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is coming to Beijing, and Fatah is sending its chief negotiator Mahmoud al-Aloul,” says Herremans, a Middle East expert. “They are giving it top priority. Now that China is showing more international ambitions, the Palestinians will think: we have to take advantage of this.”

The Chinese government did not publicize the meeting in Beijing. It was reported to The New York Times after Hamas and Fatah confirmed it.

A Chinese government spokesman said more details would be released “in due course.”