As Hamas & Fatah sign unity agreement in China, IDF eliminates 2 of their terror commanders in airstrike in Tulkarm

Tuesday morning saw a remarkable coincidence of two incidents, both involving separate meetings of representatives of the terror group Hamas and of the Fatah party, which governs the Palestinian Authority (PA).

As political officials of both Hamas and Fatah signed a unity agreement in China, almost at the same time, Israel Defense Forces eliminated two terror commanders of the groups in an airstrike as they met in the town of Tulkarm in Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.

Chinese state media reported on Tuesday morning that representatives of 14 Palestinian groups and parties, the most important among them being Hamas and Fatah, signed on to the “Beijing Declaration” at the end of a reconciliation conference held over the past three days.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the meeting a “historic moment for the cause of Palestine’s liberation,” without providing details of the agreement.

“The standout highlight is consensus around establishing an interim national reconciliation government to manage Gaza after the war,” he added.

Following the report, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich commented on 𝕏: "And in their hands do you want us to entrust our security the day after in Gaza and Judea and Samaria?!"

U.S. officials have floated the idea that a "reformed" PA could govern the Gaza Strip after the war, an idea that has received tacit support among some in Israel's security establishment but was emphatically rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After the 2006 legislative elections in the PA, which Hamas won, the terror group violently took over the Gaza Strip, killing many Fatah members and expelling the rest. Since then, Hamas and Fatah have attempted to reconcile numerous times but so far, to no avail.

While the PA’s government resigned in February, ostensibly to make way for an eventual unity government with Hamas, the two groups have since repeatedly sparred publicly over Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion and massacre of southern Israeli communities on the border with Gaza.

According to Palestinian media, five were killed in the Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem this morning, including two senior operatives.

The reports say that among the dead are Ashraf Nafeh, the commander of Hamas in the Tulkarem camp, and Muhammad Abu Abdo,… https://t.co/Yfgv6ymvPJ pic.twitter.com/KCIe2YxwuI

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 23, 2024

At almost exactly the same time on Tuesday morning, two local terror commanders of Hamas and Fatah terror forces, the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, were killed in Tulkarm.

According to the IDF, the drone strike killed four additional armed terrorists who were present at the meeting. The two commanders were identified by Palestinian media as Hamas leader Ashraf Nafe’ah, and Muhammad Abu Abdo, the leader of the local al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades branch.

The Times of Israel reported that military sources confirmed Palestinian claims that two women were also killed in the strike. However, the report noted that at least one of the women was armed and disguised as a medic.

This video circulating on social media is said to have been taken moments before the drone strike in Tulkarem, showing Muhammad Abu Abdo, the commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the area. It also shows an armed medic. pic.twitter.com/oPtLMgqei9

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 23, 2024

Since last October, the IDF has massively increased its counterterror operations in Judea and Samaria, so far arresting about 4,400 terror suspects, including 1,850 affiliated with the Hamas terrorist organization.

According to Army Radio, the weekly raids and airstrikes have likely eliminated almost the entire command of the terror groups operating in northern Samaria. In Jenin and Tulkarm, the top seven to nine leaders have all been killed, while in the Nur a-Shams camp, the senior terror commander has so far escaped several Israeli attempts to kill him.