Beijing China - Hamas announced Tuesday it had signed a historic agreement brokered by China with other Palestinian organizations, including rivals Fatah, to work together for "national unity."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul, and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian groups, said they had agreed to set up an "interim national reconciliation government" to govern post-war Gaza.

"Today we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity. We are committed to national unity and we call for it," Abu Marzuk said after meeting Wang and the other envoys.

The announcement comes more than nine months into a war sparked by the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians.

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

In Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 39,000 people, also mostly civilians, devastated the territory, and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis amid widespread accusations of genocide.

China has sought to play a mediator role in the conflict, which has been rendered even more complex due to the intense rivalry between Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which partially governs the illegally occupied West Bank.

Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it destroys Hamas – an objective even its own army admits is unattainable – and world powers, including the US, have scrambled to imagine scenarios for the governance of Gaza that can be imposed on the Palestinian people after the war ends.

As Tuesday's meeting wrapped up in Beijing, Wang said the groups had committed to "reconciliation."

"The most prominent highlight is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the governance of post-war Gaza," Wang said following the signing of the Beijing declaration by the factions in the Chinese capital.

"Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community," Wang said.

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China, he added, was keen to "play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East".

Wang insisted Beijing was committed to a "comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire," as well as efforts to promote Palestinian self-governance and full recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.

Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas' resounding victory in a 2006 election.

Several reconciliation bids have failed, but calls for unity have grown since October 7, with the West Bank also subjected to record levels of violence by Israeli settlers backed by soldiers and members of Israel's far-right government.