Palestinians Can’t Even Agree Amongst Themselves

 (From the Al Qabas newspaper, Kuwait, August 22)

 On February 8, 2007 Fatah and Hamas agreed to sign the Mecca Agreement. This historic accord was brokered under the auspices of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Four pivotal agreements emerged from these discussions.

a)     a) Halting and preventing further bloodshed among Palestinians and unifying the stance against occupation through dialogue to resolve political differences.

b)    b) forming a Palestinian unity government.

c)    c) revitalizing and reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, and accelerating the efforts of the Preparatory Committee in line with the Cairo and Damascus agreements.

d)    d) upholding the principle of political partnership based on existing Palestinian Authority laws, emphasizing political pluralism.

Only weeks later, Hamas staged a coup against the Palestinian Authority and seized control of the Gaza Strip, rendering the Mecca Agreement seemingly ineffective.

In 2009, Egyptian mediation attempted to reconcile the factions, giving rise to the Egyptian Paper, followed by the Cairo Agreement in 2011. Yet, these efforts too yielded no meaningful results.

The Doha Agreement in 2012, facilitated by the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, sought to accelerate Palestinian national reconciliation. This was succeeded by the Beach Camp Agreement in 2014. The negotiators agreed to form a Palestinian consensus government and conduct elections within six months, a promise that fell through. Accusations continued to be exchanged between the factions, perpetuating the division.

In October 2017, the Cairo Agreement emerged yet again, and both parties agreed to empower the Government of National Accord, led by Rami Hamdallah, to assume full responsibilities in Gaza. They also agreed that the Presidential Guard would oversee the crossings and the Rafah border with Egypt. However, the division remained.

Now, in 2024, driven by urgency and the relentless war on Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the Palestinian factions have turned their hopes to Beijing. They are seeking to sign yet another agreement, the Beijing Declaration.

Neither the Mecca agreement nor the 13 subsequent agreements over the years were honored. Will the Beijing Agreement be any different?