Fatah in Lebanon welcomes halt to hostilities

BEIRUT — The Palestinian Fatah movement in Lebanon “welcomed the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal of (Israeli, editor’s note) occupation forces from the territory, the entry of humanitarian aid and the exchange of detainees,” according to a statement released late Thursday.

A cease-fire agreement, brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, was approved Thursday in its first stage by Hamas and the Israelis, following negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

This stage primarily stipulates the cessation of hostilities, the release of Israeli hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023, and that of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The war in the enclave has been ongoing for two years.

Fatah-Lebanon at the same time “saluted the resistance of the Palestinian people in Gaza, who have been victims for two years of the worst kind of bloody genocide in modern history, resulting in nearly 70,000 martyrs, at least 200,000 wounded and hundreds of detainees, not to mention the systematic destruction of infrastructure, public buildings and residential complexes.”

The statement mentioned “the unfair blockade and famine, under the gaze of a world that remained silent and looked away from the atrocities of the occupier,” also recalling Israeli abuses in the West Bank.

The text paid tribute “to the efforts of the mediators who made this agreement possible.” “The end of this war is a glimmer of hope for our Palestinian people, that of national unity under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate and official force in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” the statement continued.

It finally mentioned “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to end the occupation of its territories, to bring back refugees and to create an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

For many years, Palestinians had been divided between the Palestinian Authority, stemming from Fatah and governing the West Bank, and Hamas, which controlled Gaza.