The Palestinian Authority and Hamas Strike a Deal in Beijing
Palestinian ‘moderates’ pledge unity with the killers behind Oct. 7.
By The Editorial Board
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi witnesses the signing of a declaration on ending division and strengthening unity among 14 Palestinian factions in Beijing on Tuesday. PHOTO: DI JIANLAN/ZUMA PRESSThe Biden Administration has been consistent: The Palestinian Authority must rule Gaza after the war.
The White House dismisses Israel’s protests that the PA supports terrorism and is too feeble to resist Hamas as domestic political pandering.
The only way to defeat Hamas in Gaza, says the U.S., is to hand the keys to Mahmoud Abbas and a “revitalized” PA.
Good thing Israel didn’t take Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s word for it.
On Tuesday the PA’s many factions signed an agreement with Hamas and Islamic Jihad to form a unity Palestinian government.
Oh, and they did it in Beijing, with China’s foreign minister presiding over warm handshakes with the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 massacre.
The plan is to form an interim reconciliation government for Gaza and the West Bank, where the PA has been losing ground to Hamas.
But the agreement lacks a timetable for implementation and faces many obstacles.
Hamas slaughtered Mr. Abbas’s party comrades in Gaza in 2007, and experiments in unity since then have been abortive.
At this stage the agreement is notable primarily for what it says about the parties involved.
The deal is a way for the PA to signal solidarity with the “resistance.”
Though the Biden Administration ignores the broad popularity of Oct. 7 among Palestinians, Mr. Abbas can afford no such illusions.
Hamas’s atrocities are glorified and its decision to launch the war earns about 70% support in Palestinian polls.
The PA is a husk.
The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates reportedly called it “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” at an April meeting with Mr. Blinken.
But this month the U.A.E. said it could join a stabilization force for postwar Gaza if the PA invites it.
Hamas also seeks to use the PA as political cover, and it expects President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris to fall for it.
The terrorists would love to copy the Hezbollah model from Lebanon and become the power behind the throne in Gaza, devoted to war alone.
Aid groups can be trusted not to object as Hamas rebuilds behind Western-funded PA signage.
This Beijing Declaration is also a way for Hamas to advertise its diplomatic success.
Carrying out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust has improved its standing in Beijing, Moscow and Pretoria, without jeopardizing support from Tehran, Doha and Ankara. Hamas has become a player on the world stage.
China enjoys coordinating anti-American forces and disrupting U.S. diplomacy.
Since Hamas has proved effective at sparking wars that stress the U.S. regional alliance system, China will help keep Hamas in business.
While liberals insist on a Palestinian state, they rarely ask what kind of state it would be.
At present it would be a Hamas state, by force of the ballot or the bullet.
Creating a jihadist-theocracy Iranian satellite state isn’t high on a list of vital U.S. priorities.
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