• China has helped broker a truce between Hamas and Fatah.

• It's positioning itself as a champion of Palestinian autonomy amid the Israel-Hamas war.

• China's diplomatic efforts are becoming a bigger way for it to challenge US power, an expert said.

In the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas, an unlikely nation has emerged as a key power broker in the Middle East: China.

Hamas and Fatah, the two most powerful Palestinian political groups, announced a truce on Monday brokered in Beijing, at the end of discussions between 14 Palestinian political factions, which culminated in the commitment to form an interim unity government once the war between Israel and Hamas is over, Reuters reported.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi hailed the agreement "on post-Gaza war governance and the establishment of a provisional national reconciliation government" as "dedicated to the great reconciliation and unity of all 14 factions," state media reported.

It's an audacious move that places China at the center of negotiations in a conflict where the US has long been the main mediator.

China flexes new diplomatic power

In 2007, Hamas, an Islamist group classified as a terrorist group by the US, seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah.

Hamas is battling for for survival in the Gaza Strip, after its attack on Israel on October 7 prompted an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Fatah has long been the biggest group in the PLO, which rules the West Bank.

Reconciling the groups with an eye to building a postwar Palestinian government is a diplomatic coup for Beijing, after years of trying to position itself as a power broker in the Middle East.

Though Beijing is not part of the US diplomatic push to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, analysts say it is establishing itself as an important player in any postwar settlement.

"China seeks to burnish its credentials as a diplomatic intermediary. Previous efforts to unify Hamas and Fatah have failed, but Beijing hopes to demonstrate that, at least in principle, it can bridge intractable divides and de-escalate long-standing conflicts that Washington cannot," Ali Wyne, an analyst with the Crisis Group, told Business Insider.

China challenges US might in the Middle East

In the last few years, China has challenged US influence in the Middle East. In 2023, it helped broker a restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia after decades of proxy conflict. It also brokered closer ties with the Gulf states that have long been US allies.

Deals like the Iran-Saudi rapprochement and the truce between Palestinian factions would likely have been impossible for the US, which has had adversarial relations with Iran and its regional proxies for decades.

"The United States can't be a credible mediator because it has played favorites in both the Iran-Saudi rivalry and in the competition between Israel and Iran," Middle East analyst Aaron David Miller wrote in Foreign Policy in 2023.

Wyne said that, while the world sees US-China rivalry through the prism of economics and military power, "the diplomatic component will grow more salient as Beijing aims to become a more holistic great power."

China has not condemned the October 7 attacks and has championed Palestinian sovereignty, something Israel has refused to do.

It's part of China's wider strategy of positioning itself as the leader of developing nations, many of which are angered by Western support for Israel's campaign, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities.

But though China is likely seeking political gains from the Israel-Hamas conflict, there are limits to how much Beijing is prepared to put on the line to influence the outcome, say some analysts.

The US has helped shoot down Iranian missiles heading to Israel in April. It also deployed two carrier strike groups to the region to deter attacks by Iran and its proxies in the weeks after October 7. China, meanwhile, has confined itself to diplomatic initiatives.

"China also doesn't want to sacrifice much to advance any of its interests in the Middle East," Jon Alterman, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the US Congress in April.

"Where it invests, it does so deliberately," he added.

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Israel slams Beijing deal to include Hamas in post-war Gaza government

Israel swiftly condemned an agreement brokered by China Tuesday which Beijing said would bring Hamas into a "national reconciliation government" for post-war Gaza.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz insisted that "Hamas rule will be crushed" and accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah faction signed the deal, of embracing the group whose October 7 attacks triggered the war.

Any involvement by the Islamist militant group in the post-war governance of Gaza is anathema to the United States as well as Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to address a joint session of Congress and has vowed to continue the Gaza war until Hamas is destroyed.

The diplomatic spat came as Israel hammered Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Yunis, where it had ordered a partial evacuation of civilians.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian factions.

Hamas and Fatah are long-term rivals and fought a brief but bloody war in 2007 in which the Islamists seized control of Gaza.

Fatah continues to dominate the Palestinian Authority which has limited administrative control over urban areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The text of the deal outlined plans for "a temporary national unity government by agreement of the Palestinian factions" which would "exercise its authority and powers over all Palestinian territories" -- the Gaza Strip as well the West Bank, including Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

China, which last year brokered a deal restoring relations between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, hailed the agreement as a commitment to "reconciliation".

But Katz said Abbas "embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas".

He also rejected any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, saying "Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar".

- 'Gaza is dead' -

On the ground, Israel pressed on with the war in Gaza. Hours after it ordered civilians to evacuate parts of Khan Yunis, including areas that had been declared part of a humanitarian safe zone, its jets pounded the city.

The Gaza health ministry said that 73 people had been killed and more than 200 wounded in the area, while thousands fled.

The Israeli military did not comment on the toll when asked by AFP. But in a statement, the military said its fighter jets and tanks "struck and eliminated terrorists in the area".

On Tuesday, it said its jets struck "over 50 terror infrastructure sites" as part of the Khan Yunis operation.

Hassan Qudayh, a resident forced to evacuate, said: "Gaza is over, Gaza is dead, Gaza has gone. There is nothing left, nothing".

AFP correspondents reported air strikes in Gaza City and Jabalia in the north of the territory, as well as Khan Yunis, while the Israeli military also said its troops had killed militants in "aerial strikes and close-quarters combat" in Rafah in the far south.

More than nine months of war have obliterated much of the territory's healthcare capacity, with what remains under immense pressure.

Mohammed Zaqout, director of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis told AFP: "There is no space for more patients. There's no space in the operating theatres. There is a lack of medical supplies, so we cannot save our patients."

The World Health Organization said up to 14,000 people needed medical evacuation from Gaza and that it was "extremely worried" that diseases could cause more deaths than war injuries after poliovirus was detected in the territory's sewage.

The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,090 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

- Landmark speech -

Beijing's dealmaking came with Netanyahu in Washington.

Netanyahu will deliver a landmark speech to Congress on Wednesday amid unprecedented strains between Israel and its ally.

The Israeli premier has resisted pressure from the administration of President Joe Biden to accept a truce, which far-right members of his coalition strongly oppose.

Biden, who will meet Netanyahu on Thursday, vowed to continue working to find a solution during his final six months in office, after announcing his withdrawal from the US presidential race.

Talks aimed at securing a truce are set to continue with an Israeli delegation due to travel to Doha on Thursday, a source with knowledge of the talks said.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

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Israel sceptical as Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas declare unity

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz, welcomes German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Israel on Tuesday reacted with scepticism after rival Palestinian organizations Hamas and Fatah declared an end their longstanding conflict.

A total of 14 Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Fatah, signed a declaration in Beijing to strengthen Palestinian unity, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

Similar agreements between the two organizations in the past have not led to significant progress, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz dismissing the latest initiative on the social media platform X.

"Instead of rejecting terrorism, [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face. In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas's rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar," he said.

Katz added: "Israel's security will remain solely in Israel's hands."

China takes credit, Germany's Baerbock responds

The aim of the declaration is to form a unity government, Palestinian media reported.

The meeting in Beijing "demonstrates China's sincere efforts to support the rights of the Palestinian people, end the division and unify the Palestinian position," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

"This is the first time that 14 Palestinian factions have gathered in Beijing for a reconciliation dialogue, bringing valuable hope to the suffering Palestinian people," the spokeswoman added.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also reacted to the agreement on Tuesday, noting that similar declarations have been made in the past, only for the bitter enmity to persist.

"That's why we now have to look at what this means - and we are of course in constant dialogue with the various players," she said in Berlin.

She said that a two-state solution, in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist in peace, is the only way to bring a lasting end to the conflict.

"Any efforts that help to achieve this peace are important," she said.

Can bitter rivals unite?

Fatah and Hamas are the two largest Palestinian organizations and bitter rivals.

In 2006, Hamas won the last Palestinian parliamentary election. The following year, Hamas seized sole control of the Gaza Strip by force, expelling Fatah from the area.

Since then, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and chairman of Fatah, has effectively governed only in the West Bank.

Washington is counting on a restructured PA for the post-Gaza war period. The United States wants the PA, which governs in the West Bank, to regain control of the Gaza Strip, thereby advancing a two-state solution as a comprehensive approach to calming the Middle East. Israel rejects these plans.

In its charter, the terrorist organization Hamas calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and the violent establishment of an Islamic state of Palestine from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea.

Recently, Hamas has indicated that it could join the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and become part of a unity government in all Palestinian territories.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said earlier this year that this would only be conceivable if Hamas recognized Israel’s right to exist and renounced armed struggle.

According to media reports, a senior Hamas official recently said his organization was ready for a ceasefire of five or more years in the event of the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Hamas would then lay down its arms and transform into a political party.

However, the international community's demand for Hamas to recognize Israel and respect the signed peace agreements is seen as extremely unlikely.

After the unprecedented massacre on October 7 carried out by Hamas and others, Israel is aiming to completely destroy Hamas' military capabilities as well as its ability to govern.

Five killed in West Bank drone attack

Earlier on Tuesday, Palestinian media reported that five people, including three militants, were killed in an Israeli drone attack in Tulkarm in the West Bank.

Two of the victims are said to be senior members of the armed wings of Hamas and Fatah.

The Israeli army confirmed that a drone had "targeted armed terrorists" in Tulkarm. It stated that gun battles also occurred in the city between soldiers and armed residents.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service reported that a woman was killed and three others injured in the incident. Media reports said two women were killed.

The situation in the West Bank has significantly worsened since the onset of the Gaza War following the Hamas massacre on October 7.

Since then, more than 550 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or their own attacks in the West Bank, according to the local Health Ministry.

Additionally, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has increased during this period.

Israel took control of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state.

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