Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah have made progress in establishing political unity after talks in Moscow, the Russian foreign minister has said.
Addressing a diplomatic conference in Turkey, Sergei Lavrov said Hamas had agreed in writing for the first time to respect the platform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), though he said it remained to be seen whether this would turn into more than words on a piece of paper.
The meaning of “recognition” is open to interpretation, but it may take Hamas closer to the longstanding position of Fatah, the dominant faction in the PLO, of a state of Palestine alongside Israel.
Hamas refused to recognise Israel’s right to exist, but has used various formulas to fudge this position under diplomatic pressure.
A statement on Friday by the Palestinian factions represented in Moscow said there would be an “upcoming dialogue” to bring them under the banner of the PLO.
Lavrov said the joint communique issued by the factions was an advance on five years ago when he hosted talks in Moscow and the sides could not agree on any written statement.
The two main Palestinian factions have been geographically divided since 2007 when Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank, was expelled from Gaza by Hamas fighters after legislative elections in the previous year. Various other Palestinian factions add to the disunity, and as many as 14 groups attended the Moscow talks.
Addressing the same event, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the whole world had failed the Palestinian people and that Turkey was prepared to act as a guarantor of peace in Palestine – an offer that suggests he is prepared to provide peacekeeping forces in Gaza, something Israel would reject.
Lavrov urged the Palestinian factions to unify, saying disunity played into the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu, as the Israeli prime minister had repeatedly claimed there was no legitimate organisation with which he could negotiate over the future of Gaza.
The war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s 7 October attack on southern Israel, is approaching the five-month mark.
Earlier this week the Palestinian Authority government, including the prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, had resigned to make way for a technocratic government that will be chosen after consultations with the factions.
Some senior western officials have privately acknowledged in recent weeks that Russia is playing a constructive role in trying to bring the factions together.
A clear statement by Hamas that it respects the view of the PLO would make it easier for western powers to make the case to Israel that its offensive has forced Hamas to adjust its political position and be less antagonistic to Israel.
Before the talks on Thursday, Lavrov told the factions: “If you announce such a step – restoring Palestinian unity on the basis of the PLO programme – it will remove the trump cards from the hands of those forces that refer to the internal problems in the Palestinian territories and use them to obstruct the settlement process in the Middle East.”
The Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, stressed on Friday that a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance factions should be reached before the holy month of Ramadan, which begins on 10 March.
“It is imperative to reach a ceasefire before Ramadan for the safety of the Palestinian people,” he told the forum.
