Palestinian factions have signed a “national unity” agreement aimed at maintaining Palestinian control over Gaza once Israel’s war on the enclave concludes.

The deal, finalised on Tuesday in China after three days of intensive talks, lays the groundwork for an “interim national reconciliation government” to rule post-war Gaza, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The agreement was signed by long-term rivals Hamas and Fatah, as well as 12 other Palestinian groups.

Opposing Palestinian factions agreed to form an interim national unity government during negotiations in China that ended on Tuesday with the signing of the Beijing Declaration, China's foreign ministry said.

Previous efforts to reconcile rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have failed to do so. The Beijing Declaration has yet to be tested on the ground.

The agreement displays China's growing influence in the Middle East. Last year, it brokered a breakthrough peace deal between longstanding regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Palestinian rivals including Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a unity government at talks hosted by China, Beijing said on Tuesday, a deal meant to deliver a post-war Gaza administration but quickly rejected by Israel as it seeks to crush Hamas.

Analysts said the agreement would prove hard to implement, with complications including the deep enmity between Palestinian factions and Western opposition to Hamas having any role in governance. No timetable was declared for implementation.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements after the conclusion of Israel’s war against terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The move comes amid growing US pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Authority, which would allow it to take a greater role in ruling postwar Gaza.

International efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in Gaza and begin work on a political structure to govern the enclave after the war.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced Monday that he submitted his government's resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas.

"I submitted the government’s resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on February 20, 2024, and today I submit it in writing," Shtayyeh said at a news conference via the Palestinian News & Info Agency.

Israel faced an avalanche of condemnation and denunciation in the International Court of Justice on Monday, as Palestinian representatives accused Jerusalem of creating a permanent and illegal occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and of establishing a system of apartheid in its treatment of the Palestinians.

The proceedings on Monday were the first of six days of hearings in The Hague over the UN General Assembly’s request for an advisory opinion by the ICJ on the “legal consequences” of Israel’s 56-year rule in the territories.

The International Court of Justice began hearing historic oral arguments Monday over the Israeli occupation of territory claimed by Palestinians, thrusting the decades-old debate before a panel of international judges as the region remains locked in an unprecedented war.

Fifty-two countries will participate in arguments at The Hague over the six-day hearing – more than any other case heard by the court in its history.

The International Court of Justice began hearing oral arguments on Monday over the Israeli occupation of territory claimed by Palestinians.

Representatives from 52 countries will participate in a six-day hearing at The Hague, Netherlands, to adjudicate the decades-old debate under the cloud of a contentious war in the region.

The case comes from a request by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2022 for the court to give an advisory opinion on the matter.

Both Israelis and Palestinians have reveled in the results of the temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In its initial four days, the pause in fighting paved the way for the release of 50 civilian Israeli hostages by Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, in exchange for the freeing of 150 Palestinian security prisoners by Israel.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) could return to power in the Gaza Strip only if a “comprehensive political solution” is found to the Israel-Palestine conflict, according to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas on Sunday met with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on yet another tour of the region as Israel’s deadly military campaign in Gaza nears a month.